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UBA, DEG seal $50m loan deal to support small businesses in Nigeria
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, a German Development Finance Institution, have entered into a partnership aimed at supporting small and medium scale businesses (SMEs) in Nigeria.
Both institutions have signed a $50 million term facility agreement with a tenor of six years targeted at supporting SMEs and family owned businesses in Nigeria.
UBA America’s Chief Executive Officer, Sola Yomi-Ajayi, who spoke on the partnership, said as a financial institution, UBA remains passionate about the growth of the private sector and small businesses that are critical for any developing country.
She noted that the passion to grow this sector of the economy is what led both organisations to collaborate on this laudable feat.
Also speaking, Global Head for Financial Institutions, Multilateral and Development Organisations, Yomi-Ajayi said, “At UBA Group, we are proud of this collaboration with DEG, particularly as it supports our financial intervention in the SME space, enabling financial inclusion, as well as facilitating economic empowerment.”
She said these objectives remain core aspects of the bank’s strategy, particularly as regards to facilitating the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on the African continent.
In his comments, DEG’s Regional Director for West Africa, Bernhard Tilemann, said DEG is delighted to enter into a long-term cooperation with UBA in Nigeria and the region.
He pointed out that the cooperation would address the current economic challenges of the country while fostering private sector growth and impact in the largest economy of the continent.
According to Tilemann, the funding provided by DEG is partly supported by EB-SME Finance Fund Emerging Markets, while the fund’s adviser is a 100% subsidiary of Evangelische Bank (EB).
The Regional Director noted that DEG has offices on the African continent in Lagos, Abidjan, Johannesburg and Nairobi, noting that the move is a major milestone for DEG’s regional representative office in Lagos, which was opened in 2019.
