PPC agrees capital repayment moratorium for DRC project

PPC, has strengthened its liquidity position, following the agreement of a capital repayment moratorium with funders of its recent project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), PPC Barnet DRC. The capital requirements will now be limited to interest payments only between January 2018 and January 2020.“This latest development if a major achievement in addressing our capital structure,” said Tryphosa Ramano, PPC’s Chief Financial Officer.

As a result of the deal, capital requirements associated with PPC Barnet DRC will be reduced, while cash flow will be improved for the DRC business. This will “allow the business additional liquidity during this ramp-up phase,” continued Ramano.PPC Barnet DRC, a joint venture between PPC Ltd, DRC local partner, Barnet Group, and the International Finance Corp. (IFC), completed a 1 million tpy integrated cement plant last year. The project cost US$300 million and is located near to Kimpese in the Kongo Central province in western DRC.The plant was 60% project debt funded by the IFC and Eastern and Southern African Trade Development Bank.