The Arab African International Bank (AAIB) has signed a revolving credit agreement to finance foreign trade worth $50m with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as part of an EBRD package provided to AAIB worth $110m.
The agreement allows the AAIB to expand its international trade finance to its institutional clients, in cooperation with the EBRD, through all trade finance mechanisms and instruments, as well as by ensuring commercial and sovereign risks provided by the EBRD for the commitments made by the AAIB for international institutions and banks in the areas of trade finance.
The agreement was signed by Michael Taylor, executive director of Financial Institutions at the EBRD, and Mohsen Rashad, head of the Financial Institutions and International Relations sector of the AAIB.
For his part, Sherif Elwy, CEO of the AAIB, stressed the importance of cooperating with the EBRD, especially with regard to the developmental role of the international institution, since its presence in the Egyptian market in 2012, which has grown significantly in the last three years.
The portfolio of investment and finance is more than €3bn by the end of 2018 directed at the energy, infrastructure, trade, industry and agriculture projects as well as the financing programmes for the largest banks operating in Egypt aimed at financing clean and renewable energy projects, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and trade finance.
Elwy pointed out that the AAIB is seeking to promote cooperation with the EBRD and to benefit from the European bank’s expertise in serving the targeted economic sectors and activities in Egypt.
According to Rashad, the bank’s success in concluding these agreements with the international institution, which comes within the scope of the multi-use credit facility and competitive contractual terms, as well as the risk guarantees provided by the European bank, affirm AAIB’s worthiness and supports the market position and competitiveness of the bank at the local and global levels.
The AAIB had secured a medium-term five-year loan of $30m from the EBRD to fund SMEs with a technical cooperation agreement to develop the capacities of the AAIB to develop this vital economic sector according to the latest international standards.
