Parallex Bank Ltd has secured a $10 million trade finance facility from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for lending to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
Femi Bakre, the Managing Director, of Parallex Bank, said on Wednesday that the financing, deployed under Afreximbank’s Trade Facilitation Programme (AfTRAF), was part of the bank’s strategies to assist African banks to enhance and complement existing trade finance lines.
The facility which underscored the confidence of Afreximbank in Parallex Bank will be deployed to create lines of credit for businesses operating in the agriculture, export industry, health, education, and renewable energy sectors. It will also be used for Pan-African business opportunities for Parallex Bank’s growing SME segment as well as for emerging commercial and corporate banking businesses.
“It helps us to materialise our strategy of building ecosystem partnerships to support critical sectors of Nigeria’s economy for growth and development”, Bakre said noting that Parallex Bank will engage in product-based collaborations to increase transaction mileage in specific and strategic segments, such as the creative industry, women-owned and managed businesses among others.
In addition to the $10 million trade finance facility, Bakre added that Afreximbank will provide Parallex Bank with technical assistance in capacity development and other training programmes geared towards solidifying the relationship between the two institutions.
Benedict Oramah, the President, Afreximbank, said the financing facility provided to Parallex Bank comes in addition to other trade facilities already in use by our other partner banks in Nigeria and throughout the continent to help bridge the financing gap created by the withdrawal of international correspondent banks.
