Standard Bank has signed off on an agreement to participate in the largest commercial transactional deal this year to enable Debmarine Namibia to acquire a mining vessel which will boost diamond recovery operations. The vessel will be used for marine diamond recovery operations off the southern coast of Namibia, in the Atlantic 1 mining licence area. The combined contribution by the five commercial banks is N$5.6 billion or 80% of the total AMV3 acquisition of which Standard Bank’s contribution to the transaction amounts to N$1.5 billion. The vessel will be the third that is acquired with financial support from Standard Bank, the other being the SS Nujoma which was acquired in 2016 and for which Standard Bank provided a loan facility of N$900 million and the MV Mafuta towards which the Bank provided a loan of N$2 billion. The new vessel, once operational, is expected to create more than 160 new jobs which underscores Standard Bank’s commitment to play an active role to create opportunities for economic growth and employment creation in the country. At the signing ceremony on Wednesday, Standard Bank Chief Executive, Vetumbuavi Mungunda, emphasised the importance of corporate entities working together to find joint solutions to challenges. He also appreciated the partnership with Debmarine Namibia which led to the financing of the transaction to acquire the vessel and the two previous others. Mungunda also highlighted the importance of public private partnerships and called on Government to look at more such collaborations between the public and private sectors as a catalyst for national growth. The new vessel is being constructed in Romania and is scheduled to commence operations in 2022.