(Ecofin Agency) - As it faces a severe drought which exposes 10% of its population to a dark cloud of hunger, Zimbabwe obtained a $200 million loan from African Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank) to finance its maize import, governor of central bank, John Mangudya, announced on January 22. “We obtained a $200 million loan from Afreximbank which will allow us to import maize from any part of the world,” Mr. Mangduya said on State radio.

The Southern African nation which experienced insufficient rains during the period of January-March last year, previously announced it would import about 700,000 tons of maize this year to prevent hunger from settling in.

Mangudya added that Zimbabwe currently had 250,000 tons maize of reserves, saying it should be enough to meet population’s demand until next September.

UN’s World Food Program previously estimated to 14 million, the number of people which would be exposed to hunger in Southern Africa in 2016, as a result of a severe drought aggravated by the El Nino phenomenon..

Agriculture is one of the pillars of the Zimbabwean economy. This sector represents 30% of export earnings, 19% of GDP and 70% of employment.