AfDB supports CIB with $148M to prop up SMEs and trade

CAIRO - 30 November 2023: African Development Bank (AfDB) provided the Commercial International Bank (CIB) with a financial package worth $148 million to prop up small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and trade.

 

The AfDB clarified that the instruments and amounts include $10 million Line of credit with a tenor of 10 years, and $90 million subordinated loan with a tenor of 10 years.

 

Furthermore, they include a $32 million trade finance line of credit with a tenor of 3.5 years, and a $16 million trade finance line of credit from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF) with a tenor of 3.5 years.

 

According to the statement, the financial package to CIB comes amid a shortage of foreign currency in Egypt due to complex endogenous and exogenous macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, including persistent supply bottlenecks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

 

It added that the financial package will enable CIB to meet the foreign currency needs of its clients in various sectors of the Egyptian economy.

 

“The financial package will provide CIB with long-term resources for onward lending to businesses, strengthening CIB’s capital position, and enabling CIB to meet the trade finance needs of its client,” the AfDB stated, adding that the primary beneficiaries of the financial package will be small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporates operating in key sectors of the Egyptian economy.

 

It expected this funding to contribute to mobilizing significant resources for key economic sectors in Egypt, ultimately enhancing productive capacity and stimulating growth. 

 

“This will increase economic output, improve the country’s competitiveness, generate fiscal and export revenues and create much-needed employment opportunities, particularly for women,” it noted.