UBA, DEG In $50m Loan Pact For Nigeria’s Small Businesses

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United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, the German Development Finance Institution have entered into a $50 million facility pact to support small and medium businesses (SMEs) in Nigeria.

The facility has a tenor of six years and it is specifically for SMEs and family-owned businesses in Nigeria.

For almost 60 years, DEG has been a reliable partner to private-sector enterprises operating in developing and emerging-market countries with bespoke solutions, including financing, promotional programmes and advice tailored to individual needs. With a portfolio of around EUR 8.5 billion in approximately 80 countries, it is one of the world’s largest private-sector development financiers.

The UBA Group is excited about the pact according to its America’s Chief Executive Officer, Sola Yomi-Ajayi, “At UBA Group, we are proud of this collaboration with DEG, particularly as it supports our financial intervention in the SME space, enabling financial inclusion, as well as facilitating economic empowerment.

Yomi-Ajayi, who is also the Global Head for Financial Institutions, Multilateral and Development Organizations, said the loan agreement will aid UBA, as a financial institution, to remain passionate about the growth of the private sector and small businesses which according to her, remains critical for any developing country. She noted that the passion to see this sector succeed is what led both organisations to collaborate on this laudable feat.

Continuing, she said, “These objectives remain core aspects of our strategy, particularly as regards to facilitating the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals on the African continent.”

DEG’s Regional Director for West Africa, Bernhard Tilemann, said, “DEG is delighted to enter into long-term cooperation with UBA in Nigeria and the region. This cooperation will address the current economic challenges of the country while fostering private sector growth and impact in the largest economy of the continent.”

According to Tilemann, the funding provided by DEG is partly supported by EB-SME Finance Fund Emerging Markets, while the fund’s adviser is a 100% subsidiary of Evangelische Bank (EB).

The Regional Director noted that DEG has offices on the African continent in Lagos, Abidjan, Johannesburg and Nairobi; and pointed out that the move is a major milestone for DEG’s Regional Representative Office in Lagos which was opened in 2019.

United Bank for Africa(UBA) Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than twenty-five million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touchpoints, in 20 African countries. With a presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail; commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance and ancillary banking services.

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