Ecobank Nigeria Secures $15m Credit
Ecobank Nigeria Limited at the weekend said it had secured and utilised a credit line under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Export Credit Guarantee Program.
The program, according to the bank, provides credit guarantee to encourage commercial financing of US agricultural commodity exports, thereby assisting US exporters in making sales that might not otherwise occur.
The credit line under the US Government Export Guarantee Program is reserved exclusively for the export of agricultural products from the USA. It had facilitated increased trade of agricultural products between US exporters and Nigerian importers, according to a statement from the bank.
Furthermore, it explained that it provided an avenue for competitively priced financing for longer tenors to both exporters and importers, provides the exporter guaranteed payment and enables exporters to agree credit terms with importers.
According to the Executive Director Corporate Bank, Ms. Foluke Aboderin, the facility, which has the ability to be up-sized, had been used for Structured Trade Finance transactions with Cargill Financial Services International, one of the subsidiaries of the Leading International Commodities Trading House, CARGILL Inc. Deutsche Bank played the role of confirming and partner bank.
“The recognition of Ecobank, a member of the Ecobank Group – the Pan-African Bank, by the US government, further highlights the unique advantages of partnering with a counterparty who has widespread foot print across the African continent.
“With presence in 36 countries in Africa, Ecobank is well positioned to provide easy access to international counterparties that have transactions across Africa, the emerging frontier market with significant untapped opportunities and strong demographics,” it added.