DEG - Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH

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Accompanying German enterprises

Major target group of DEG

Nowadays, all sizes of company are forming joint ventures or setting up their own production facilities abroad. Besides countries as Brazil and South Africa, China, India, but also other countries for example in eastern Europe are increasingly interesting. DEG's specially skilled investment managers advise German companies during the development phase of a project, check business plans and provide the clients with material for them to plan and structure their proposals. Furthermore, DEG supports them when it comes to evaluating local partners and informs them about other possible forms of finance. Together with the client it evaluates the proposed project and looks for ways of minimising risk. This service is especially important for companies with little experience abroad. German companies investing abroad have a tailor-made instrument at their disposal that pays equal attention to changing markets and clients' requirements.

One example is the first foreign investment of the German Schwenk Zement KG. The family-run business is building a cement works roughly 400 kilometres north of Windhoek, in a remote region where farming is currently the main occupation. The factory will provide 300 jobs and indirectly generate work for a further 2,000 people. At present, Namibia has no cement factory of its own, so all its cement has to be imported. However, if the nation’s infrastructure is to be upgraded as planned, a local supply is urgently needed.

Ohorongo is Schwenk’s first foreign location. DEG, operating in Africa for over 40 years, has advised the medium-sized enterprise on taking this step and has arranged the necessary debt finance of approx. EUR 132 million. DEG itself provided a long-term loan of around EUR 32 million; cofinancers were the European Investment Band (EIB) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). Schwenk preferably uses secondary raw materials and fuels in order to conserve resources where possible. It is an approach the business intends to pursue in Africa as elsewhere. It plans to use invasive vegetation, known as “invader bush”, as an energy source.
The roof-wetting ceremony of Ohorongo was on 4 February, 2010. Among the guests were Namibia's prime minister, Mr Nahas Angula, the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Mr Dirk Niebel, and from DEG the chairman of the Board of Management, Mr Bruno Wenn.

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