Ecobank Group, one of the leading pan-African banking groups, has signed an agreement for a US$112mn long-term credit facility over nine years with the European Investment Bank (EIB)
The facility affirms joint Ecobank Group and EIB targeted support for business investment across Africa, with particular support for the sectors most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ambroise Fayolle, vice-president, EIB, said, “The EIB, as part of Team Europe, works with leading banks and financial partners across Africa to enhance private sector access to finance. This latest cooperation with Ecobank Group will help companies to better tackle challenges triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, unlock economic and social opportunities, especially for SMEs and women-owned and women-run enterprises, across Sub-Saharan Africa in the coming weeks.”
The latest cooperation between Ecobank Group and the EIB to support private sector investment across Africa was formally agreed at the EU Delegation to Togo in Lomé, in the presence of Koen Doens, director-general for International Cooperation and Development at the European Commission. The announcement was made during a Team Europe visit to Togo by EIB vice-president Ambroise Fayolle, Rémy Rioux, CEO of the Agence Française de Développement and Koen Doens.
The facility is split into three regional facilities: West & Central Africa, Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. Funding will be provided through Ecobank affiliates, for investment projects undertaken by private sector companies. The EIB made the facility available through its COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility, for private sector entities active in eligible productive sectors, with fewer than 3,000 employees.
The EIB loan will also be accompanied by technical assistance under the AWRI (African Women Rising Initiative) program of the EIB with gender finance focused training and capacity building for lending to women entrepreneurs, closely aligned with the Ellevate by Ecobank initiative which supports women-focused businesses across the continent.
