Dr. George Agyekum Nana Donkor, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), and Subhasis Dhal, Chief Executive of India Exim Bank, London, have signed an historic commercial credit line agreement for an amount of $100 million in the London office of the India Exim Bank.

The two financial institutions, through this credit line agreement, intend to engender the impactful transformation of the private sector in the West African sub-region.

During the ceremony, Dr Donkor said, “this is a milestone event towards the EBID’s vision to be an effective instrument for poverty alleviation, wealth creation and job promotion for the well-being of the people of the ECOWAS sub-region.

This facility expands a longstanding partnership between India EXIM and EBID, which began in 2006 with signing of a line of credit for public sector projects in the amount of $250 million.

As at today, there are four Indian lines of credit amounting to $1 billion of which $912 million has been allocated across 39 projects in the ECOWAS member states.

However, Dr. Donkor noted “this is the first time India Eximbank is extending a facility to EBID for financing private sector projects, an indication of the confidence India Eximbank has in the private sector portfolio and the strategic direction of the Bank”.

On her part, the Managing Director of India Exim Bank, Harsha Bangari, stated that “this structured long tenor credit line agreed between EBID and India Exim Bank, is a reflection of India Exim Bank’s strategy and commitment to developing global partnership and clear evidence of India’s developmental and friendly outlook towards the African continent, to ensure post Covid-19 recovery.”

Commenting on the already existing relationship between the two organisations, Saroj Khuntia, General Manager of Lines of Credit, India Exim Bank, was optimistic that this new initiative would provide multiple opportunities to bridge the infrastructure gap and drive sustainable economic growth in the West African sub-region.

This milestone further establishes EBID as a credible partner with in depth knowledge of the West African development finance landscape and is poised to effectively transform ECOWAS communities by creating the conditions capable of enhancing the emergence of a Restored, Enabled and Resilient West Africa that is perfectly integrated both internally, and in the global economic system.

The India Exim Bank was set up in 1982 by an Act of Parliament and is fully owned by the Government of India. It is the principal financial institution for coordinating the working of institutions engaged in financing exports and imports.