Togo-based Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Ecobank’s holding company, has signed a US$250mn senior bridge-to-bond loan facility to support the lender’s trade finance activities.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) are global coordinators and initial mandated lead arrangers (MLAs), while Mashreq Bank is an MLA.

The facility has a tenor of 12 months, with an extension option of six months and an accordion feature under which the loan amount can be increased.

Ayo Adepoju, group chief financial officer for Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, says the facility will provide “additional liquidity buffers for the bank”.

“The firm’s continued ability to demonstrate market support and, in particular, diversify its funding sources under challenging economic conditions reflects credibility that has been purposefully built in the market and across the African continent over many years,” Adepoju says.