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EX-IM BANK (US) DRAMATICALLY EXPANDS
ITS NIGERIAN BANK FACILITY
LAGOS, NIGERIA, June 12 – To meet
growing demand from Nigerian banks for financing to support
Nigerian purchases of U.S. goods and services, the
Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has
more than doubled the size of its Nigerian Bank Facility to
$1 billion, the Bank announced today.
The facility covering 14 Nigerian banks allows for expedited
processing of short- and medium-term insurance and guarantee
transactions in support of U.S. exports to Nigeria, and now
will accommodate long-term transactions as well.
“Since its 2005 restructuring, the Nigerian banking sector’s
growth has been truly outstanding,” said Ex-Im Bank Board
Director J. Joseph Grandmaison. “In 2007 alone, the banking
sector’s assets rose by 55 percent and its average net
earnings by 64 percent, while the sector raised an
additional $10.3 billion in capital. The banking sector is
committed to playing a more prominent role in sub-Saharan
Africa.”
Initially the demand from Nigerian banks was for short-term
financing, and more recently for medium-term financing,
Grandmaison said.
”Now, with the focus on larger infrastructure projects, we
are receiving requests for financing transactions in excess
of $10 million, with terms of seven to ten years, to support
U.S. exports such as passenger aircraft, oil and gas
equipment, dredges, and telecommunications and manufacturing
equipment,” he said. “That is why we are reaching out to our
Nigerian partner banks to restructure our relationship. The
changes also are aimed at rewarding those banks that are
active users of the Ex-Im Bank facility.”
However Ex-Im Bank is open to consider transactions with
Nigerian banks that are not members of the facility. “We
welcome the opportunity to work with all of Nigeria's
banks," Grandmaison said.
Grandmaison announced the expanded facility at an export
credit workshop in Lagos, “U.S. Government Agencies: A New
and Practical Approach to Export Credit and Financing
Opportunities,” sponsored by U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria
Robin Renee Sanders. The event follows a three-day Nigerian
Independent Private Power (IPP) Financial Seminar in Abuja,
sponsored by Ex-Im Bank in cooperation with the U.S.
Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce and
the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
Ex-Im Bank is the official export-credit agency of the
United States. The independent, self-sustaining federal
agency, now in its 74th year, helps create and maintain U.S.
jobs by financing the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to
emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan
guarantees, export-credit insurance and direct loans.
In fiscal year 2007, Ex-Im Bank authorized more than $433.5
million to support export of U.S. goods and services to
sub-Saharan Africa. Overall for that fiscal year, the Bank
authorized $12.6 billion in financing to support an
estimated $16 billion of U.S. exports worldwide. The Bank
authorized $3.4 billion in direct support of U.S. small
businesses for the year. The 2,390 transactions in support
of small business during 2007 represented 85.6 percent of
all Ex-Im Bank transactions. For more information about Ex-Im
Bank export finance solutions for sub-Saharan Africa, visit
www.exim.gov/africa.
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