Announcement of Zambia's Leading Textile Mill Plans Twenty-Nine Million Twenty Thousand US Dollars Expansion on August 7, 1980

• • Intei-national Finance C01poration Press Relea~e ~o. 81/10 Thursday, August 7, 1980 iB18 H Street. N.W Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. 20,2-4 77-1234 t·; Zambia's Leading·Textile'Mill ·p1ans $29~2 Million Exp$nsion Zambia's principal textile company, Kafue Textiles of Zambia Limited, is undertaking a $29.2 million expansion which will help alleviate local fabric shortages caused by rapidly growing domestic demand. The project will increase Kafue Textiles' capacity from 11 million meters a year at present to 19 million meters a year. It will enable the company to process additional grey cloth, permit the finishing of wider cloth, improve product quality, and increase.productivity • through the installation of air conditioning equipme~~· The expansion includes the installation of some 16,800 spindles, 192 wide automatic looms, and appropriate weaving prepara.tory equipment at the Company's mill at Kafue, about 30 miles southwest of Lusaka." The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an affiliate of the World Bank, is lending approximately $7.3 million for the project and the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) of the United Kingdom is lending about $5.6 million. Approximately $6.1 million in cash generation and $10.2 m:l.llion in suppliers' creditJ complete the financial plan. Kafue Textiles is owned by Indeco Limited of Zambia; Textil- consult S.A. of Geneva, the technical partner; CDC; Barclays Overseas Development Corporation of the U.K.; and Zambia National Provident Fund. Zambia's cotton production has been increasing rapidly under programs supported by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank and the country has recently started to export fiber. Finished textiles for local consumption, however, are in short supply and the project is in line with the Government's policy both to make the maximum domestic use of • cotton and to meet increasing local textile demand • .. .. . "'  • • In additon~ ~he expansion will benefit the Zamb.ian economy by ~ achieving substantial foreign exchange savings and by creatfng an estimated 667 jobs. \ (Any inquiries strictly relating to IFC's participation in this project should be directed to the IFC Information Office, 1818 H Street, N·.w., Washing.ton, D.C. • 20433, Telephone (202) 676-0394.) •