Zenith Bank Plc and the French Development Agency (Agence Francaise de
Development (AFD), operator of France’s bilateral development finance
mechanism, over the weekend in Abuja, signed a US$100m power sector
credit facility to boost new investments in the capital expenditures of
Distribution Companies (DISCOS).
The signing of the facility
which took place in the inner chambers of the Aso Rock Villa in the
shadow of the security summit was witnessed by the visiting French
President Francois Hollande and the Nigerian President, General
Muhammadu Buhari.
The facility will be a reprieve for the DISCOS
that are currently weighed down by debt burden with historic debtors
made of mainly government establishments, including the military and
security agencies alone accounting for over N93bn.
Leading the
team of the bank’s top executives to the bilateral session where the
pact was sealed was Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Jim Ovia, while
Mrs. Laurence Breton-Moyet, Chief Operating Officer and Member of the
Executive Board from the AFD Headquarters in Paris, led the agency’s
team.
Under the loan arrangement, a maximum of US$50m can be
on-lent to any single borrower at single digit interest rate for a tenor
of between seven and 12 years, with a moratorium of 2 – 3 and half
years, depending on the project’s cash flow.
The AFD facility is
aimed at reinforcing, rehabilitating and modernizing the existing
distribution networks with the sole target of stabilising the grid. The
loan arrangement also provides for technical assistance and other
advisory services, both to the benefiting DISCO and the partnership
bank.
Zenith Bank Plc has remained, not only a leading financier
of investments aimed at developing the power/energy sector in the
country, but also a key player in many other sectors of the economy
including; oil and gas, agriculture, manufacturing, communication,
transportation, real estate and construction, among others. In the
financial year ended December 31, 2015, Zenith Bank reported a profit
after tax (PAT) of N105.66bn - the highest in the Nigeria banking
industry for the year; with total assets at over N4trn.
AFD, a
public industrial and commercial institution with the status of
specialized financial institution, is working in consonance with
France’s framework document for development cooperation to combat
poverty and promote sustainable development by financing and supporting
projects that improve living conditions for populations, promote
economic growth and protect the plane
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