Issued by: Afreximbank
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) have signed a framework agreement for a Joint Project Preparation Facility to provide early-stage project preparation finance and technical assistance to public and private sector entities. This is aimed at supporting Uganda’s industrialisation and export development activities.
Under the framework agreement, Afreximbank and UDB have established a Joint Project Preparation Facility to unlock investments in priority sectors such as energy, transport and logistics, special economic zones/industrial parks, manufacturing, agro-processing, hospitality and tourism, mining, solid minerals and services.
The facility will help de-risk projects and accelerate their development from concept to bankability by covering feasibility studies, project development and advisory services and related costs. The two banks aim to mobilise up to $25mn in project preparation funds for investments in Uganda.
Ms Kanayo Awani, executive vice president, Intra-African Trade and Export Development Bank at the Afreximbank, signed the agreement on behalf of Afreximbank while Mr Samuel Edem Maitum, director of credit, UDB, signed on behalf of his organisation in Nassau, Bahamas on 14 June.
Commenting on the signing of the agreement, Ms Awani said: “The JPPF is a critical collaborative tool through which the bank and its partners pool resources to prepare bankable projects, given that one of the major challenges in developing projects is bringing commercially viable projects to financial close. Through this partnership, Afreximbank intends to work with UDB to prepare quality, bankable projects that will attract investment from both the public and private sectors.”
She added that the JPPF will be instrumental in catalysing and mobilising downstream investments.
Mr Maitum noted that several transformative project ideas remain unimplemented in Uganda due to the limited availability of technical and financial support to ensure bankability.
He stated that UDB’s collaboration with Afreximbank through the Joint Project Preparation Facility “will unlock several transformative private and public sector-led projects. The collaboration will also enable the flow of capital to the jointly prepared projects.”
He thanked Afreximbank for the opportunity to collaborate and reiterated UDB’s commitment to ensuring the success of the initiative.
The implementation of the agreement is expected to help accelerate Uganda’s economic growth through increased private sector investment in the targeted sectors and to help position Uganda as an attractive investment destination through the provision of a steady stream of investment ready projects.
About Afreximbank
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a pan-African multilateral financial institution with a mandate to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has used innovative structures to provide financing solutions that support the transformation of Africa’s trade structure, accelerate industrialisation and intra-regional trade, and thereby promote Africa’s economic expansion. A strong supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank launched the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which has been adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to support the implementation of the AfCFTA. In partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is establishing a $10bn Adjustment Fund to support countries that effectively participate in the AfCFTA. At end-December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees amounted to more than $37.3 billion, and its shareholders’ funds stood at $6.1bn. Afreximbank is rated investment grade by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary, the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (collectively “the Group”). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com.
