US $100 million fuel pledge

Zimbabwe has won pledges of at least US $100 million from Arab and European banks for the purchase of fuel to help ease serious shortages which threaten the country's vital agricultural sector, the 'Zimbabwe Independent' reported on Friday. Minister of Energy and Transport, Enos Chikowore, who was part of a high-powered delegation to Europe and the Middle East said: "What I can tell you is that the figure is more than US $100 million but I cannot start talking about figures until all the papers have been signed." He added that the lines of credit for the beleaguered National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NocZim) would be available "soon". Neil Wright of the Commercial Farmers Union told IRIN that there could be a delay in procurement of up to a month, and until the fuel arrives in Zimbabwe. "Things are going to be very tight," Wright said. "We won't have a train smash, but it will make things difficult." Land needs to be prepared for tobacco, Zimbabwe's main foreign exchange earner, from the end of January. By March and April, it is the turn of maize and cotton, and enough diesel for farm tractors is vital. The US $100 million fuel credit line is said to be sufficient for about two-and-a-half months. Wright said that with only 40 percent of fuel needs currently available countrywide, "we have had stock-outs in various areas, and it has been very much a fire-fighting exercise." Failure to solve the fuel crisis over the next 2-3 months, "would have a significant impact" on Zimbabwe's agriculture-based economy, he added. Meanwhile, President Robert Mugabe has lashed out at corruption within NocZim as being behind the crisis. He said the state-owned company had abandoned a US $100 million operating facility from Libya in favour of underhand deals with other suppliers in which officials had received kick-backs. Mugabe said no effort would be spared to bring to book those involved in the scandal. "I will not drop a tear if a relative of mine is caught in that net against corruption," the official 'Herald' newspaper quoted him as saying.