By Nik Ogbulie
A leading Nigerian Tier One Bank, UBA Plc, and Anambra State Government within the week remain the major Nigerian beneficiaries from Afreximbank’s bold funding arrangement to boost international trade as well as create growth opportunities for investments in the larger Nigerian economy through states investment institutions.
While UBA received the sum of 150 million dollars, Anambra State got 200 million in what has been described as major funding landmark at a time Nigeria is receiving stringent revenue crisis. The deals which were disbursed in Cairo, Egypt on the sideline of the Intra-African Trade Fair tagged IATF2023, were also considered quite huge considering the business-friendly conditionality of Afreximbank which has endeared it to a great number of the African business community.
The two deals which were signed by Kanayo Awani and Denys Danya respectively, Executive Vice President’s of Afreximbank with the Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Soludo and the Managing Director of UBA, Oliver Alawuba are believed to be of very significant implication to Nigeria’s development objectives.According to Afribank, while Anambra State needs its 200 million Dollars to boost strategic structural changes and reforms within the investment space, UBA’s 150 million Dollars would be deployed to streamline its trade initiative , especially to its customers who have been affected by the ongoing strife in Russian and Ukraine. The loan will be applied in a way it will mitigate some of the difficulties encountered by trade operators.
The bank is poised to boost the morale of the traders, more especially importers and exporters.Apart from the funds directly received by Anambra State, major advisory services will be rendered by Afreximbank to enable the state optimize its capacity in rendering appropriate services. Some of the facilities to be developed include, the Ikenga City Indusrol.
Industrial Project, Anambra Export Emporium, Automotive Industrial Park , and services for Anambra Diaspora Fund as well as Anambra Intra-City Rail Master Plan.Meanwhile, deals already entered into by Afreximbank and several institutions across the continent have continued to rise, indicating growing interest in the search for funds for major investments, other than those of the SMEs.
The IATF which entered its sixth day today have been described as very instructive to African economic development and would be generating about100 Billion Dollars for African Development inititiative.
