Turkish importer gets JBIC backing

Turkish industrial importer and retailer Enka Pazarlama has signed a ¥15bn loan with the help of Asian banks and export credit agencies to purchase and export construction machinery from Japan.

China: Against all odds

Despite international concerns over wavering Chinese stability, trade finance bankers are prepared to take on the precarious situation, writes Shannon Manders.

Pat on the back for Panama

Panama’s economy is reaching a defining moment in its development, offering new prospects for trade and infrastructure financing. Ingrid Norton reports.

Propping up African infrastructure

Now more than ever, export credit agencies are needed to support infrastructure development in Sub-Saharan Africa, argues Sarah Rundell.
 

EBRD invests in Russian technology line

The EBRD and state-owned Russian technology company Rusnano will finance a new production line to manufacture energy-saving glass.

HSBC reopens in Libya

As a sign of growing confidence in Libya, HSBC has reopened its representative office in Tripoli.

Asian banks back Vietnamese investments

Vietnam Development Bank has signed a US$270mn 15-year loan from a group of Asian banks to on-lend to Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment.

IADB boosts Brazil's infrastructure

The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a US$3bn 25-year loan to develop the Mário Covas Rodoanel highway in São Paulo.

VEB cements export finance deal

Russian state-owned bank VEB and HSBC have closed a seven-year €150mn rouble-denominated deal with Danish company FLSmidth to construct Russia’s largest cement plant in Kaluga.

Viewpoint 9 Nov 2011

New opportunities in the soft commodity sphere could become the driving force for Africa’s growth, writes GTR Deputy Editor, Shannon Manders.

Adding value in Africa

The growth of the global population – which reached 7 billion last week – is putting huge pressures on commodity supply chains.

The increase in demand for commodities is already being felt across the globe and, with the world’s population set to grow to 8.8 billion in 2050, will likely escalate in the coming years.

Many industries will be looking to take advantage of this growing consumer market, and food-related businesses in particular are set to cash in on the world’s baby boom.

The African continent, which has long been popular for its vast natural resources, is home to some of the world’s biggest soft commodity producers.

But for now, it seems that Africa may be missing a trick when it comes to obtaining the maximum benefit from its soft commodity exports. The continent has little to no infrastructure needed to process its abundance of raw commodities, such as cocoa, which is stunting its ability to generate added value and reap even more financial rewards.

How exactly it will achieve its goals of becoming a processing hub is a challenge that has yet to be solved. At Exporta’s West Africa trade & commodity finance conference, held in London last week, panellists were keen to debate the continent’s future of soft commodity processing.

Without the necessary infrastructure, it’s an unlikely prospect, said one Nigerian banker who believes that even if European processing units were to be relocated to Africa, it would not help Africa’s plight, as such plants would simply be European entities based in Africa.

But the capacity for processing soft commodities is increasing in both Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire. According to an African development bank representative, there is a greater demand for financing to support processing activities, but a lack of interest from other banks to get involved in the mounting deals.

Another African banker at the conference identified the need for more development funds going into Africa and called for governments to work with agencies around the world in order to make this objective a reality.

His colleague at an international bank noted that “international commercial banks are not involved in the business of development, but rather in the business of shareholder returns”.

One might ask how Africa might ever come to prosper if international financiers think that they do not have a role to play in the continent’s growth.

Do you think banks should be more concerned about African development?

Asean bank in talks

Reports this week suggest that China is currently considering a proposal to form a regional bank in order help its small and medium enterprises invest in Southeast and Southwest Asia.

US Exim boosts Nigeria’s power output

The Export-Import Bank of the US and the Nigerian ministry of power have signed an agreement to increase the power output in Nigeria by ten-fold by 2020.

US Exim sees infrastructure powering global recovery

Infrastructure demand will power the global economy out of its slowdown, according to US Export-Import Bank chairman and president Fred Hochberg.

Speaking to GTR, Hochberg notes: “The amount of infrastructure that’s being put into place globally is at a level we’ve never seen. It’s something that can really help power up this global recovery.”

Hochberg’s forecast comes as the US export credit agency announced a record-breaking year for the bank.

China and South Africa improve trade ties

China and South Africa have signed two deals on geology and mineral resources, and financial cooperation.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by South African Vice President Kgalema Motlanthe and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in China.

Samsung closes Bahrain PPP project

Samsung Engineering Consortium has closed its US$280mn public-private-partnership project in Bahrain’s wastewater sector.