Ecobank Nigeria gets U.S. export guarantee’s lifeline

ECOBANK Nigeria has scaled the huddle to be the first Nigerian bank to have utilized a credit line under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Export Credit Guarantee Program.

The initiative, known as GSM 102 Programme, provides credit guarantee to encourage commercial financing of U.S. agricultural commodity exports, thereby assisting U.S. exporters in making sales that might not otherwise occur.

The credit line under the scheme, reserved exclusively for the export of agricultural products from the U.S. has facilitated increased trade of agricultural products between the country’s exporters and Nigerian importers.

It has provided an avenue for competitively priced financing for longer tenors to both exporters and importers; provided the exporter guaranteed payment; enabled exporters to agree credit terms with importers; and eliminated minimum transaction size barrier.

The Executive Director, Corporate Bank, Ecobank, Ms. Foluke Aboderin, said the GSM 102 Facility, which has the ability to be up-sized, has been used for Structured Trade Finance transactions with Cargill Financial Services International, with Deutsche Bank playing the role of Confirming and Partner Bank.

The recognition of Ecobank, a member of the Ecobank Group, by the U.S. government, further highlights the unique advantages of partnering with a counterparty, which has widespread foot print across the African continent.

With presence in 36 countries in Africa, Ecobank is well positioned to provide easy access to international counterparties that have transactions across Africa, the emerging frontier market with significant untapped opportunities and strong demographics.