NATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE, STAR OILS SIGN SH100 BILLION LOAN FACILITY DEAL

NBC Managing Director, Mizinga Melu (left), and MeTL CEO, Mohamed Dewji displaying the Sh100 billion facility agreements, shortly after the signing ceremony in Dar es Salaam last week.

THE National Bank of Commerce (NBC) and Star Oils Tanzania Limited have concluded about 100bn/- loan facility that involved three banks.

The banks involved in the deal are NBC, South Africa's Absa and Barclays Bank Mauritius.

"The conclusion of the deal showcases NBC and Barclays Africa Group Limited's joint capabilities in supporting its clients," NBC said in a press release issued after the signing ceremony in Dar es Salaam over the weekend.

Star Oils Tanzania is one of Mohammed Enterprises Limited (MeTL) Group's newest business ventures located at Kurasini area near the Dar es Salaam Port.

The firm is currently implementing the second phase of an extensive project to store petroleum products and later to create nationwide distribution of petroleum products through a chain of nearly 200 petrol stations.

The total storage capacity of this facility upon project completion shall be 68 million litres, created solely for the storage of gasoline (petrol), gas oil (diesel) and kerosene.

The bulk of these white petroleum products are currently marketed on a wholesale basis with future plans to market them through MeTL Group's retail petrol stations.

In structuring this deal, Absa provided a structured trade finance facility, Barclays Bank Mauritius has funded a term facility, whilst NBC has afforded an overdraft to Star Oils Tanzania. "We are delighted that Star Oils Tanzania has granted NBC the opportunity to undertake this business with them.

The conclusion of this deal reaffirms NBC's commitment to supporting our clients where the combination of a local bank with global capabilities is leveraged," said Ms Mizinga Melu, NBC's Managing Director during the signing ceremony marking the conclusion of the financial deal between NBC and Star Oils Tanzania.

METL Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Mohammed Dewji, said the conclusion of the deal was yet another milestone for the group with operations in diverse business interests.

Mr Dewji said the group directly employs more than 24,000 people across the country and its business covers trading, agriculture, agro-processing, beverages, manufacturing, energy and petroleum, financial services, mobile telephony, infrastructure, real estate, transport, logistics and distribution. "We are proud to be the leading employer in the country's private sector," Mr Dewji said.

He said METL has also continued to expand its footprint on the African continent currently with operations in 11 countries including Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Mr Dewji said the group recently acqured a textile mill in Zambia. "Our current production capacity is about one million metres of fabrics," he said.