African Banker’s World

LOANS

BOAD approves $70m loans

BOAD (the West African Development Bank) approved four long- and medium-term loans totalling CFA 29.04bn ($60m) and a short-term loan of CFA 5bn ($10m). They relate to partial financing of a project to reinforce the drinking water supply system in Côte d’Ivoire; partial financing of a project to install a technical landfill centre in Togo; consolidation of the balance of the initial loan for the Dakar-Diamniadio toll motorway project in Senegal; installation of a cardboard packaging production unit in Mali; short-term loan to the Senegalese government for the partial financing of the Emergency Rural Electrification Programme (EREP). The bank also approved the establishment of a line of credit for BOAD with the Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD).

IDB launches Africa projects

The Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has launched The Renewable Energy for Poverty Reduction initiative to release $180m in financing to six African countries for renewable energy projects. Sidi Mohamned Ould Taleb, regional director for IDB, said that IDB planned to increase their spending to around $7bn in the next five years.

AfDB approves Mauritius power plant

The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a $116.7m loan to the Mauritius Central Electricity Board (CEB), the state-owned electricity utility, for the Saint Louis Power Plant Redevelopment Project, which has a total cost of $129.7m, aiming to increase CEB generating capacity and stabilise the electricity supply.

TRADE FINANCE, Ecobank scoops award

Ecobank has been named the Best Trade Bank in Nigeria by UK-based Trade Finance magazine in their 2013 Awards for Excellence. This award comes amidst a growing demand for trade finance. The bank has been active in the oil and gas sector but is seeing increasing demand for its online corporate banking service, Ecobank Omni, from telecoms, power, manufacturing and agriculture. Accepting the Award, René Awambeng, Group Head of Global Corporates, at Ecobank, said: “Financing trade in Africa is a complex and risky business, and the trade financiers who will profit most from the current boom in intra-regional African trade will be those with in-depth local knowledge and expertise.”

Gabon to receive $19m trade finance support

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will inject a fresh $18.7m into the Gabonese economy under the terms of a trade finance agreement signed with Société de l’Hôtel Mandji.  The financing will enable Société de l’Hôtel Mandji to undertake the refurbishment of 84 rooms and the construction of 50 additional facilities, to be managed as the Le Meridien Mandji by the Starwood hotels group.

Afreximbank also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Banque Gabonaise de Développement (BGD) to facilitate collaboration between the two institutions in promoting trade and economic development in Gabon.