London, Cairo, 14 December 2020 – MUFG and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have closed a ground-breaking $520 million facility, the first to be covered by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI). NEXI’s proactive support for this facility was agreed on the basis of Afreximbank being a strategic partner, participation from Japanese investors, and the deal contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
MUFG was the sole Mandated Lead Arranger, Bookrunner, Agent and NEXI Coordinator on the transaction, with the documentation closing on 3 December 2020. The facility fully aligns with Afreximbank’s strategic priorities in the area of intra and extra African trade and investment, export manufacturing, as well as industrialisation. These objectives find common ground with NEXI’s objectives of supporting sustainable African growth and development in line with TICAD objectives.
Afreximbank will use the proceeds towards its Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) which was launched in March 2020 to help African sovereigns, commercial banks and corporates to weather the impact of the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility will support the Bank’s interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will be used to finance trade and trade related investments which contribute to the sustainable development of the socioeconomic, health, manufacturing, environmental, agri and agri-related sectors across the 51 African Member States of Afreximbank.
Working together with NEXI and Afreximbank, MUFG was able to access under-utilised Japanese liquidity, resulting in an extremely successful outcome of distribution to Japanese investors, many of which were new investors for Afreximbank. This follows in the footsteps of two Samurai loans for Afreximbank in 2017 and 2019, including the largest ever Samurai Loan for an African issuer.
Speaking on the transaction, Christopher Marks, Head of Emerging Markets EMEA, commented: “This facility marks a watershed moment for African institutions looking to tap the Japanese investor pool, and we couldn’t be prouder to have played a leading role. It goes without saying that we are delighted to have once again partnered with Afreximbank, who are not only leading the way in terms of bringing in new investment and growth opportunities to Africa, but also providing vital support to the region in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Amr Kamel, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Business Development and Corporate Banking said: “The successful implementation of this facility is a testimony to the great collaboration and innovative approach adopted by MUFG, NEXI and Afreximbank and demonstrates the power of using public resources to leverage private financing for development. We expect strong and sustainable development outcomes by effective implementation of this facility, including employment creation, increased economic activities, and increase in tax revenues for fiscally strained governments, amongst other outcomes.”
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Media Contacts:
MUFG:
Rebecca Edwards
Head of Media Relations, EMEA
T: +44 (0)7383100551
E: rebecca.edwards@uk.mufg.jp
Afreximbank:
Amadou Labba Sall
Manager, Communications & Events (Media Relations)
T: +20 120 532 0254
E: asall@afreximbank.com
About MUFG:
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world’s leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with around 2,700 offices in more than 50 markets. The Group has over 180,000 employees, and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.
MUFG aims to be the world’s most trusted financial group through close collaboration among its operating companies, and to respond to all of the financial needs of its clients, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.
MUFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges.
Please visit our website for more information – mufgemea.com.
About NEXI:
Japan continues to be a dedicated partner to Africa; just last year at the seventh Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD), a commitment was made by former Prime Minister Abe for Japan’s private sector to invest $20 billion over three years in the continent.
About Afreximbank:
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution with the mandate of financing and promoting intra-and extra-African trade. Afreximbank was established in October 1993 and owned by African governments, the African Development Bank and other African multilateral financial institutions as well as African and non-African public and private investors. The Bank was established under two constitutive documents, an Agreement signed by member states, which confers on the Bank the status of an international organization, and a Charter signed by all Shareholders, which governs its corporate structure and operations. Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that are supporting the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby sustaining economic expansion in Africa. At the end of 2019, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at USD$15.5 billion and its shareholders funds amounted to US$2.8 billion. Voted “African Bank of the Year” in 2019, the Bank disbursed more than US$38billion between 2016 and 2020. Afreximbank has ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1) and Fitch (BBB-). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com.