Cairo, 24 October 2015: – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) today announced the closure of a $525-million five-year syndicated loan to the Egyptian Electricity Company (EEHC) aimed at supporting the company to contribute more effectively to the Egyptian energy and power pool.
According to the Bank, which served as the mandated lead arranger and original lender, the facility will be used to import gas turbines and other related equipment supplied by General Electric, Canada, in the context of Egypt’s Emergency Power Plan.
Afreximbank said that the facility, granted under its Export Credit Agencies Loans Facilitation Programme, closed on 6 October with eight Egyptian and Gulf banks participating. They include National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Commercial International Bank, Arab African International Bank, Audi Bank, Alex Bank, Arab Banking Corporation, and Egyptian Gulf Bank.
Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said that the granting of the facility was part of the Bank’s commitment to pooling resources for large scale infrastructure projects in Africa in an effort to promote trade-enabling environments in its member countries.
“This facility brings our support to the Egyptian economy to more than $1.9 billion of aggregate financing since the inception of the Bank in 1993,” he said.
The loan was launched into syndication on 18 August 2015 and is partly financed through Afreximbank’s Export Credit Agencies Loans Facility Programme under which the Bank was provided a five-year line of credit by Export Development Canada (EDC) in November 2012. The line of credit is aimed at funding the purchase of Canadian goods and services, including equipment, raw materials, essential imports and engineering expertise, by African entities in order to develop competitive local sectors such as mining, telecommunications, transportation, manufacturing, energy and agro-industry.
Media Contact: Fleur Tchibota (ftchibota@afreximbank.com Tel. +202-2456-4260)
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#Energy: Afreximbank closes $525-mln syndicated loan to Egyptian Electricity Company. https://t.co/zhwudpNp3D pic.twitter.com/fustgUpc8W
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About Afreximbank:
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations. Since 1994, Afreximbank has approved almost $35 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $4.5 billion in 2014. Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com