Standard Chartered has provided €149mn in export credit agency (ECA) -backed financing to the Angolan Ministry of Finance for the construction of a hospital in Kilamba, marking the first social loan obtained by the Southern African country’s government.

Backed by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the financing supports the building of a 250-bed facility with a dedicated ward for burns treatment that will be located in Kilamba, a large residential area just outside the capital city of Luanda. The project is being developed by the Angolan Ministry of Health as part of the government’s national development plan, and involves the design, building and equipping of the hospital.

The construction contract has been awarded to London-based ASGC UK, and under the terms of the support received from UKEF, 40% of the project will be fulfilled by UK suppliers of building materials, electrical equipment and medical supplies, which UKEF says will amount to over £50mn in potential export opportunities for UK businesses.

“This support shows once again the leading role the UK plays when it comes to exporting world-leading expertise in project development and medical equipment,” says Tim Reid, UKEF’s newly appointed CEO. “Working with the Angolan government and Standard Chartered Bank, we are proud to demonstrate how British ingenuity can enhance healthcare for communities abroad whilst helping UK businesses export their best-in-class goods and services.”

Standard Chartered acted as sole bookrunner, original lender, facility agent, structuring bank and mandated lead arranger, while Lloyds Bank also came in as a mandated lead arranger. Standard Chartered structured the financing to fully comply with the global loan market associations’ social loan principles – a set of voluntary recommended guidelines for lending that mitigates social issues and challenges or achieves positive social outcomes that were published in 2021.

“We’re very proud to help support a project that makes such a difference to local communities by providing improved healthcare services,” says Mustafa Sajjad Hussain, executive director of structured export finance at Standard Chartered.

This is the latest in a series of deals for Angola. Earlier this month, Investec and UniCredit closed a €225mn facility to finance three hospitals in the country, supported by the Italian and South African export credit agencies. Meanwhile, last month, Standard Chartered financed two deals for the country worth a total of €238mn. Backed by Germany’s export credit agency, those facilities supported the construction of a road between the towns of Mussende and Cangandala, and the building of an animal vaccine production facility in the city of Huambo, and followed a bumper Standard Chartered-led US$1.1bn deal for water infrastructure in Luanda, which was announced in September 2021.