AfDB Grants €70 million financing facility to Morocco’s Bank of Africa to promote African trade

The African Development Bank Group approved a €70-million financing facility for Bank of Africa Maroc (BOA) to promote access to financing African trade.

The package comprises a €50 million Risk Participation Agreement (RPA) and a €20 million Trade Finance Line of Credit (TFLOC), the AfDB said in a press release.

“The African Development Bank, rated AAA by the biggest rating agencies, unites with Morocco’s Bank of Africa to improve access to trade financing in Africa, by supporting mainly small and medium-sized enterprises in states in transition,” Ahmed Attout, AfDB’s Director of the Financial Sector Development Department, was quoted in the press release as saying.

“We are delighted with this first partnership with BOA, a leading African stakeholder, in Morocco and on the Continent. Together, we will strengthen the financial inclusion of small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in foreign trade, to help them expand more widely,” said Achraf Hassan Tarsim, head of the AfDB country office.

The RPA will provide Bank of Africa with the opportunity to further support the Continent’s local banks in their international operations, which are increasingly faced with a decline in financing and confirmation lines with their foreign correspondents, said the AfDB.

The TFLOC will facilitate access to financing for Moroccan SME operating in the key sectors of health, agriculture, the pharmaceutical and automotive industries, and transport.

The facility is expected to catalyze nearly €300 million of trade over a period of three and a half years. The broader aim of this cooperation is to strengthen African countries’ productive diversification and competitiveness, create additional tax revenues and generate new employment opportunities, the press release said.

Bank of Africa is Morocco’s third largest bank, with branches in 32 countries, including 20 in Africa.