By Stanley Opara

The United Bank for Africa Plc has signed an agreement with HSBC London for a $100m multi-currency facility specifically for imports.

The bank, in a statement on Friday, said the move was in line with its drive to facilitate trade and promote economic growth across the continent.

The multi-currency facility, the bank explained, was dedicated to UBA clients in all African countries, and could be drawn down in all major currencies, including euro, British pounds, Japanese yen or US dollar.

According to the bank, customers can leverage on the facility to import durable goods and services such as manufacturing and processing equipment, agric and agro-business equipment, construction equipment, electro-mechanical equipment, machine tools and spares; telecoms equipment, petrochemical plant, gas plant equipment, power plant equipment, ships, aircraft and fleet vehicles.

The Divisional Head, International Financial Organisations, UBA, Mr. Emeka Echeazu, said the facility would initially cover imports from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark and Finland. Others are France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain and Ireland. “But without excluding such other countries that may, from time to time, be appropriate for support,” he said.

“The facility is backed by the export credit agencies of these countries, which ensure that the costs of the transactions are kept to the barest minimum and indeed, cheaper than the traditional sources of funding such imports,” he explained.

The tenure for transactions to be funded under this facility, range from two years to seven years, and under special arrangements, could be extended to 10 years.

Source: Punch