Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the Togo-based holding company of the Ecobank Group, has closed a five to seven-year US$200mn syndicated debt facility.
FMO, the Dutch development bank, arranged the syndication, keeping a US$58.5mn stake for its own account. Other development finance institutions and impact investors contributed as follows: €21mn each from DEG and Proparco, US$15mn each from the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries and the Development Bank of Austria, US$30mn from Blue Orchard, US$21.5mn from Symbiotics and US$10mn from Oikocredit.
It is the second FMO-arranged syndicated loan facility for the Ecobank Group in recent years. ETI will use the facility to provide funding to a number of subsidiaries across its network of 36 African countries. At least 75% of the loan facility will be directed to SMEs across various sectors.
“FMO is proud to have arranged this successful syndicated loan agreement for our long-standing partner Ecobank Group. Through this investment we support small and medium-sized enterprises in some of the most underbanked countries in Africa. Although SMEs in these countries provide the majority of jobs, their access to finance remains limited. We are really happy to bring new investors to these markets and help to spur economic growth where it is needed most,” says FMO CEO Jürgen Rigterink.
