The Africa Development Bank Group has granted the United Bank for Africa a $175 million loan to increase its assistance for the private sector, infrastructure development, and women-owned enterprises.
According to a statement published by the lender on Monday, the facility included $100 million in long-term senior debt, $50 million in trade financing medium-term senior debt, and a $25 million risk participation program.
“The long-term senior debt will strengthen UBA’s capacity to finance projects in Nigeria in key sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture and related value chains, manufacturing, energy, and SMEs,” it said. The facility will be supplemented by technical help from the Affirmative Action for Women in Africa project to increase access to finance and technical assistance to female SMEs.
“The trade finance senior debt will provide UBA with much needed countercyclical dollar liquidity to support SMEs and local corporates involved in export-import related activities in the short to medium term. The unfunded Risk Participation Agreement aims to strengthen UBA UK’s role as regional confirming bank and by extension expand access to international markets for largely excluded African issuing banks.”
Speaking on the development, the AfDB’s Group Director-General for Nigeria, Lamin Barrow, said, “We are pleased to support UBA with this package, which aligns with four of the African Development Bank’s high five priorities namely Light up, and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Integrate Africa, and Industrialise Africa.”
The Group Managing Director, UBA, Oliver Alawuba, said “This facility will further deepen our support, which has been very considerable, to the critical sectors of Nigerian economy and especially to women-owned businesses and small and medium enterprises, which we consider as the engine of any country’s economic development.”
