Ecobank Group Secures €100m Credit Facility from European Investment Bank to Fund SME’s

Ecobank Group Secures €100m Credit Facility from European Investment Bank to Fund SME’s

Ecobank Group, a pan-African banking group, has signed an agreement for a €100 million long-term credit facility over 9 years with the European Investment Bank.

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.

Ade Ayeyemi, Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Group, said: “At Ecobank we are fully committed to providing a range of initiatives that support the growth and success of Africa’s Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and create employment opportunities.

This informed the credit facility that we have just secured from the EIB which we believe will deliver real impact in our joint mission to develop SMEs across Africa.

The €100 million facility will support the recovery of African SMEs from the COVID-19 pandemic while also helping to provide them with the impetus to grasp the immense growth opportunities from the African Continental Free Trade Area vast single market.

We thank the EIB for its focus and commitment to the continent.”

Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President, European Investment Bank, 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 the pan African 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 Pan African bank Group and the European Investment Bank 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, Chief Executive Officer 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 its 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.