The Afreximbank has signed and sealed a 150 million dollar trade finance facility agreement with United Bank for Africa (UBA) PLC, under the Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa.
BRANDPOWER reports that the agreement was signed on the sidelines of the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2023 in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.
According to Afeximbank, the facility, strategically crafted to mitigate the adverse effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, aims to support UBA’s clients to increase their financing for businesses across various sectors in the Nigerian economy.
The agreement was signed by Denys Denya, Executive Vice-President, Finance, Administration Banking Services, Afreximbank, and Oliver Alawuba, Managing Director of UBA PLC.
BRANDPOWER reports that according to Afreximbank , the facility is expected to enhance confidence in the settlement of international trade transactions for strategic imports.
“The funding is driven by an increased demand for trade finance support to UBA’s clients which will enhance confidence in the settlement of international trade transactions for strategic imports such as food, medications, and agro products.
“This is crucial to Afreximbank’s mandate as it supports small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those in the manufacturing sector to increase production thereby supporting economic growth and development in Nigeria,” Afreximbank said.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, the Executive Vice-President of Afreximbank, Denys Denya, said “The funding is driven by an increased demand for trade finance support to UBA’s clients which will enhance confidence in the settlement of international trade transactions for strategic imports.
“This is pivotal to Afreximbank’s mandate for supporting SMEs particularly those in the manufacturing sector to be able to increase production thereby supporting economic growth and development in Nigeria.”
UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oliver Alawuba said, “This facility will further boost our quest to deepen intra-Africa trade which has been severely constrained by the impact of the war in Ukraine.
“We have a long-standing beneficial relationship with Afreximbank, we are delighted of our partnership as we jointly envision better dealings for our customers,” Alawuba added.
UBA is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than thirty-seven million customers across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.
