Accompanying German enterprises
Many companies today are setting up joint ventures or their own production facilities abroad. Besides Eastern Europe, it is increasingly countries like Brazil, South Africa, China and India which are of interest. To realise their investment plans, the companies need capital - capital, which is frequently not available in sufficient quantities. This is where DEG comes in. It pro-vides the companies with long-term funds at market conditions and brings in its decades of experience concerning investments in developing and transition countries.
Financing and consultancy offer tailor-made for German enterprises
DEG has a special department which deals with German enterprises. Because it is especially medium-sized enterprise which faces considerable challenges when it comes to establishing a production facility far away from the familiar market: particularly, if it is a location in a de-veloping or emerging-market country.
The DEG experts give advice to German enterprises as regards the risk analysis and the project development. They help plan and structure investment projects, they review business plans and support the appraisal of local partners. Together with their customers they identify solutions on risk mitigation. In this way, German enterprises investing abroad can utilise a range of offer customised to their needs, which at all times stays abreast of their needs and of the changing markets.
DEG's offer addresses all German companies and particularly medium-sized enterprise. The planned investments have to be meaningful from the developmental and the business point of view. As a rule, DEG provides financing in a range between about 3 and 25 million euros, depending on design, size and target country of the project. However, DEG can also cooperate with regard to smaller projects. The cooperation with private-sector companies aims at utilising the expertise and strength of the private sector as the engine behind development.
Opening up new markets: together with DEG
An example for this is the first foreign investment of the German Schwenk Zement KG. The family-run company set up a cement works in Namibia, around 400 km north of Windhoek, in a remote region living largely on agriculture. The works will offer direct employment to 300 people plus another 2,000 indirect jobs. Since there has been no cement works in Namibia so far, the construction material had to date to be completely imported. However, a local supply is urgently required for the planned expansion of the country's infrastructure.
DEG consulted the German medium-sized company, arranging the lending to the amount of around 132 million euros required for Ohorongo. DEG itself provided a long-term loan ac-counting for almost 32 million euros. Co-financiers are the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
The topping out of Ohorongo was celebrated in February 2010. One year later, on 3 Febru-ary 2011, the works was opened.
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