LONDON - The United Kingdom (UK) hosted the second UK-Africa investment conference online with the participation a number of high powered panalists from the UK and the African continent.
Top lines
• The availability of private sector finance can be a constraint on business activity. UK Export Finance (UKEF) helps overseas buyers and project sponsors access long-term finance on attractive terms.
• Through its offer of finance, UKEF can support sovereign buyers and international large corporates with finance, loans and insurance to make their projects happen, with the proviso that they commit to procuring from the UK supply chain.
• From sustainable rail projects in Cairo to new hospitals in Cote D’Ivoire, UKEF is making a very real
difference in Africa, while filling up the order books of UK companies.
• UKEF’s financing for projects on the continent has already significantly increased from c. £600 million in 2018-2019 to over £2.3 billion in 2020-21 - the highest amount provided to Africa in a single year since 2000.
• This has included $280 million to finance six new hospitals across the Côte d’Ivoire, and £1.2 billion to support the construction of two electric monorails in Egypt.
UKEF’s offer in Africa
• UKEF can offer financing in up to 12 African currencies and has expanded its support in the region with billions of pounds in capacity to support projects in African markets that source from the UK.
• UKEF has 4 International Export Finance Executives in Africa to connect project sponsors and buyers with UK suppliers based in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.
• UKEF is a member of the African Trade Insurance (ATI) agency and the pan-African export credit agency, platforms which promote UKEF among buyers in Africa and allow UKEF to increase its market risk appetite in the country by risk sharing with the ATI.
New projects in Africa supported in 2021
Ghana
• Over £120 million worth of support to expand and modernise the Kumasi Market, the largest market in West Africa visited by 800,000 people per day.
• UKEF support enabled Leicestershire based construction equipment supplier Quarry Manufacturing & Supplies Ltd to secure a deal worth £1.5 million to support road construction in North Tema, Southern Ghana.
• UKEF support also enabled Northern Irish SME Tesab Engineering to win a deal worth £1 million to supply manufacturing and industrial equipment to support construction projects.
Cote D'Ivoire
• £236 million worth of support for the construction of six new hospitals across the country, UKEF’s largest ever loan in francophone Africa.
• Support worth £105 million will support the rehabilitation and reinforcement of two existing roads, and the construction of four bridges to improve trade links with neighbouring countries Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Burkina Faso.
• UKEF support in the Ivory Coast enabled Dints International to win a contract worth €10 million to supply the equipment needed for the construction of five high priority road networks in the Côte d'Ivoire.
Egypt
• £1.2 billion worth of support for the construction of two electric monorails supporting sustainable transport in Cairo, the largest amount of financing UKEF has provided on an overseas infrastructure project.
• Almost US$38 million worth of support for EgyptAir’s purchase of two Trent-1000 spare engines from RollsRoyce in 2021.
Cameroon
• £115 million worth of support will improve trade links by widening the Douala Road from 2 to 6 lanes. The project will support the crucial trade route from the port at Douala, to the capital Yaoundé as well as to landlocked neighbours Chad and the Central African Republic.
Tunisia
• Northern Irish manufacturing company CDE Global won a multi-million-pound contract to expand production capacities at a sand wet processing quarry in Oueslatia, Central Tunisia with UKEF support.
