The African Development Bank (AfDB) has given Ecobank a trade finance loan of US$200mn.

The credit comes in the form of an unfunded risk participation agreement (RPA) and will support the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors. It has two tranches of US$100mn each.

The first is for three years and is in the form of a 50/50 risk-sharing agreement, whereby Ecobank will match AfDB’s undertaking in transactions up to a limit of US$100mn. The facility has a potential to be worth US$200mn. The second has a tenor of 3.5 years and will be on-lent to local corporates and SMEs across Africa by Ecobank’s regional subsidiaries.

According to Ecobank, the deal will facilitate up to US$1.8bn in trade throughout Africa.