10 October 2003
African Export-Import Bank (the "Bank" or "Afreximbank") today celebrated the signing of a syndicated loan in an amount of USD 180 million. The Facility was arranged by West LB, London, Standard Chartered Bank, London, KBC Bank,
The Facility, which was more than twice oversubscribed, attracted 30 Banks from all over the world. The Ceremony which was held at the Churchill Intercontinental Hotel, London was well attended.
In his statement, on the occasion of the signing ceremony, Mr. C.C. Edordu, President of Afreximbank, described the event as an important milestone in the annals of the Bank not only because it marks its fifth entry into the Euro-syndications market but also for other achievements implied in the transaction. According to Mr. Edordu, the event represents a successful attainment of a key goal in the Bank's treasury strategy in that the Facility carried new characteristics, namely a dual feature comprising of a 2-year tranche and an extendible revolving one year tranche. He said that, at 30, there were nine more banks than those involved in their first syndicated loan offering and that the geographic spread also widened to include banks from virtually all parts of the world. Further, he said that while the Bank's first facility achieved an over-subscription of about 7%, the current facility, despite the new features, was more than twice over-subscribed.
Mr. Edordu said that the event marks a new stage in the implementation of the Bank's strategy as it moves from complete reliance on equity funding, to accessing bilateral lines of credit, short-term syndicated facilities, and now syndicated medium term borrowing which the Bank hopes will culminate in its seeking a rating and issuing bonds and other capital market debt instruments. He said that some of the funds raised under the 2-year tranche of this facility will go to support activities in high growth sectors of financial institutions, oil & gas, oil services, telecom, tourism and export manufacturing and that the Bank expects other revenue sources in deploying the funds in those sectors, especially arising from advisory service fee incomes. He said that and that the Bank's focus on the above sectors and products are likely result in a 10% growth in assets by December 2003 and a further 12-15% expansion by December 2004 bringing total assets to respective levels of about US$500 million and US$575 million in December 2003 and 2004. He said that the Bank also expects its net income to rise by more than 6% in 2003 and 2004.
Afreximbank is an international EXIM bank established by African Governments, as well as African and non-African private and institutional investors with the mandate of promoting and facilitating African Trade. To this end, it provides trade and project financing as well as advisory services to clients in its member countries.
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© Press Release 2005
