The 250 million-Euro syndicated bridge loan facility arranged by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for Port Autonome d’Abidjan (PAA) of Côte d’Ivoire has been honoured by GTR magazine as its Best Deal of 2014. afreximbank facility
An Afreximbank delegation led by Kanayo Awani, Director of the Bank’s Trade Finance and Branches Department, accepted the GTR Best Deal of 2014 trophy from the magazine during an awards ceremony held at the Landmark Hotel, London, on 30 April.afreximbank facility
Port Autonome d’Abidjan received the 250 million-Euro facility to assist it to achieve its vision of turning the Abidjan port into an international hub in West Africa by financing advance payments and related costs for the expansion of the port, in particular, through the construction of a second container terminal pending conclusion of a $950-million 20-year term loan being processed by the China Eximbank for the Government of Côte d’Ivoire.
Kanayo Awani, Director, Trade Finance and Branches, Afreximbank (centre) with the event organisers after accepting the award on behalf of Afreximbank.
Afreximbank served both as the mandated lead arranger and a lender, with a 50 million-Euro participation, in the PAA facility. The other lenders are Banque Atlantique Côte d’Ivoire, which contributed 100 million Euros and is the local administrative agent; Société Générale de Banque de Côte d’Ivoire, with a contribution of 50 million Euros; and the Africa Finance Corporation, which participated in the amount of 50 million Euros.
Awards were also presented to Banque Atlantique, Côte d’Ivoire, the Africa Finance Corporation, Cisscorp Holding LLC, Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLC, and Société Générale de Banque de Côte d’Ivoire.afreximbank facility
Joining Ms. Awani on the Afreximbank delegation were Obi Emekekwue, Head of the Afreximbank External Communications Department, Mamdouh Salem of the Operations Department, and Ismail Kamara of the Credit Department. They were accompanied by Amadou Wadda, Vice President at the African Finance Corporation; Ibrahima Ciss, President of Cisscorp Holding LLC; and Philip Beswick of the law firm of Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLC.afreximbank facility