Menu

The African Export-Import Bank said on Friday that it has closed a five-year syndicated loan deal with Chinese and Taiwanese investors, raising $300 million. The Cairo-based multilateral institution said the deal is its first-ever syndicated loan with China/Taiwan and it is guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank).

According to Afreximbank, the syndicated loan was concluded on 12 September, two months after Afreximbank and China Exim Bank signed an agreement in July to create a $1 billion China-Africa Investment and Industrialization Programme to facilitate bilateral trade.

“This syndicated facility helps position Afreximbank to strengthen its role in the development of trade between Africa and the rest of the world, in particular China and the rest of the Far East,” said Denys Denya, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President in charge of Finance, Administration and Banking Services. “The conclusion of this facility demonstrates Afreximbank’s increasing ability to attract much-needed resources into Africa and to fund trade finance-related investments that will have a positive impact on Sino-Africa trade.”

Denya also said that the facility will help Afreximbank to achieve its liability management objective of reducing the cost of funds and diversifying its liability book by geography, investor type and tenor. The Cairo-based multilateral institution said the facility was two times oversubscribed with 16 investors and banks participating in the deal. Standard Chartered Bank served as the sole coordinator, book unner, and mandated lead arranger.

China is Africa’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $220 billion in 2014. Africa exports mainly raw materials and minerals to China, while the continent’s imports from China consists of mainly machinery and manufactured goods.