The African Development Bank (ADB) has recently signed with EBI SA, a subsidiary of Ecobak Internaional, a financial risk sharing agreement for its activities in Africa, valued at $35 million.

This continued partnership between the institutions will enable them to support 50 issuing banks operating in 35 African countries "and should secure about $300 million in commercial transactions over a three-year period," said the AfDB's Director for Financial Sector Development, Stefan Nalletamby.

The new agreement comes to meet the growing demand for trade finance on the continent, mainly for the agriculture, transport, construction, health, and handicraft production sectors.

According to the Director, the renewal of the partnership with Ecobank comes at a time when most African issuing banks are struggling with the devastating impact caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

"African institutions are facing serious limitations in obtaining adequate financing from international banks to support small and local businesses involved in international trade," he said.

For his part, the Bank's Deputy General Manager for West Africa, Joseph Ribeiro, believes that the new facility, in partnership with Ecobank, will allow "the flexible use of the Bank Group's robust AAA-rated risk capacity to increase access to trade finance on the continent, and more specifically, to support access to finance for small and medium enterprises and local businesses operating in fragile states.