MIGA and TDB Expand Their Partnership to Bolster Trade Finance in Africa
Nairobi/ Washington 29 February 2024 – In 2020, the World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) signed a first-of-its-kind credit enhancement facility providing a 10-year EUR 359 million guarantee for commercial bank financing extended to TDB for trade finance, with longer tenors and lower interest rates.
In December 2023, MIGA and TDB expanded their cooperation, with MIGA issuing an additional EUR 349 million 7-year guarantee for a loan provided by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) as agent on behalf of a syndicate of banks, including Citibank as arranger.
The TDB-MIGA partnership has so far succeeded in supporting transactions worth over USD 300 million in TDB member states, making it possible for their corporates, financial institutions, and public sector to import and export commodities which are vital to their food and energy security, industry, foreign exchange earnings, employment, and tax revenues, as well as medical equipment.
In context where financial institutions are more risk adverse than usual due to the current macroeconomic environment, and where international correspondent banks have accelerated their retreat from their continent, the guarantees are contributing to addressing the trade finance gap, which is estimated at between USD 100 and USD 120 billion in Africa.[1]
“We are very pleased to continue broadening our partnership with MIGA with this facility, as part of a string of strategic and impactful engagements between TDB Group and World Bank Group institutions. We are proud to be working together to help grow and transform our region’s economies through innovative trade finance solutions – important catalysts to our sustainable development” said Admassu Tadesse, TDB Group President and Managing Director. “
“MIGA is expanding its footprint in sub-Saharan Africa by supporting trusted partners like TDB,” said Hiroshi Matano, MIGA Executive Vice President. “Our trade finance guarantees offer a crucial instrument for attracting foreign direct investment, providing access to liquidity for low- and middle- income countries.”
“Multilateral development bank offering continues to be a key for our export finance solutions,” said Sujithav Sarangi, Executive Director, Structured Export Finance, Standard Chartered Bank. “This important finance backing from MIGA helps us to provide capital to TDB to foster trade across important footprint markets in sub-Saharan Africa.”
[1] Knowles, Michelle. ‘African trade finance enters an exciting new phase’, Trade Finance Global, 7 October 2022 (modified 6 December 2023). Available at: https://www.tradefinanceglobal.com/posts/african-trade-finance-enters-an-exciting-new-phase/
About TDB
Established in 1985, the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) is an investment-grade African regional development finance group, with the mandate to finance and foster trade, regional economic integration and sustainable development. With an asset base of USD 10 bn, TDB Group has 25 African member states, which alongside non-regional member countries and institutional investors from Africa, Europe and Asia, form TDB’s community of shareholders.
TDB Group counts several subsidiaries and strategic business units including the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), TDB Group Asset Management (TAM), the Trade and Development Fund (TDF), TDB Captive Insurance Company (TCI), the ESATAL fund management company and TDB Academy.
www.tdbgroup.org
About MIGA
MIGA was created in 1988 as a member of the World Bank to promote foreign direct investment in emerging economies by helping to mitigate the risks of restrictions on currency conversion and transfer, breach of contract by governments, expropriation, and war and civil disturbance; and offering credit enhancement to private investors and lenders. Since its creation, MIGA has issued over $76 billion in guarantees across 123 developing countries, supporting more than 1,000 projects. Over the past decade, MIGA’s guarantees have generated more than 156,000 jobs in developing countries.
www.miga.org