The East African Development Bank (EADB) has signed a credit line deal worth Ksh 1.5 billion (US$15 million) with The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), which will be used to help achieve EADB’s goals of developing East Africa.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Viviane Yeda, The Director General, EADB, said that the bank has continued to build relations with new lenders and development partners. To this end, BADEA has established a line of credit with the EADB of an amount of $15,000,000.
“It is with great honor that we get to partner with EADB, who we share same vision of developing our regions and the world at large,” said Dr Sidi Ould TAH, Director General, BADEA.
The EADB strategic plan for the period 2016 – 2020 follows a period of business growth over the previous plan period 2011-2015 and an in-depth review of EADB operations and related operations policies in 2015.
The Bank has established a strong financial position, endorsed by an investment grade credit rating of Baa3 by Moody’s Investor Service, which provides a sound platform for business growth over the current plan period of 2016-2020.
The strategic focus for 2016-2020 Strategic Plans includes five key priority area, namely, food security — agriculture, agri-business, reforestation; infrastructure — energy, water, transport, ICT; social development — education, health; climate change — green investments and regional integration — trade and regional projects.
The Bank has a favourable debt to equity ratio which gives it room to mobilize more financial resources to financing its growing business obligation.
The purpose of the Line of Credit is for the EADB to support the funding of Eligible Import Transactions from Eligible Arab Exporters to Eligible importers in member states of the EADB.
In line with its mission and vision, the Bank aims to become a medium-sized niche development finance specialist with a full product range and strong arranging and structuring capabilities in the East African Region.
The Bank has a favorable debt equity ratio which gives it room to mobilise more financial resources to financing its growing business obligation.
Financing Strategy
The Funding sources for the Bank includes paid-in capital, retained earnings (reserves) and borrowings from multilateral development institutions and local capital market. The strategy is to ensure that the Bank has a diversified mix of funding sources by type, markets, currency, instruments and maturities to provide maximum flexibility in funding its operations at the least cost possible.
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To enable the Bank grow and promote sustainable and substantial regional development, a considerable amount of resources would be required both in debt and equity financing. In order to marshal the necessary resources, the Bank leverages its strong equity base to raise additional resources required. The strong international credit rating, position the Bank favorably to access international markets.
The Bank enjoys good working relationship and support from several multilateral development institutions which have ensured a continuous flow of investment funds.
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