By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-First Bank of Nigeria and pan African lender, Ecobank Transnational  maybe risking a $200 million loan default from a Sierra Leonean firm, London Mining Plc due to the dreaded Ebola virus diseases (EVD) deterring investors and declining prices of iron-ore, a Bloomberg report said on Wednesday.

Apart from First Bank and ETI, FirstRand Ltd and Standard Chartered Plc both South African lenders also risk in the $200 million loan default by London Mining as they all helped fund the loan.

The report quoted Greg Saffy analyst at RMB Morgan Stanley, a Johannesburg-based equity research company as saying that the loan was drawn down in full December, according to London Mining’s annual financial statement.

“London Mining may announce that it is going into administration today,” Saffy said.

According to the report, the Sierra Leonean iron-ore producer has said in late September that it has no sufficient cash without raising further funds as the Ebola outbreak made it more difficult to lure investors and iron-ore prices went down to a five-year low. ‘’Iron ore is Sierra Leone’s biggest export earner and accounts for 16 percent of its economy,’’ the report said.

It further affirmed that outside of banks, BlackRock World Mining Trust Plc was forced to write down the value of a royalty contract it bought from London Mining in 2012, according to an Investec Plc note.

‘’Talks with strategic investors who may have injected more capital ended on October 10, according to London Mining, and the company asked for its stock in the U.K. to be suspended,’’ the report added.