Citi Bank, GIB, ADB sign $60m pact

From the Business Desk

Citi Bank and the Ghana International Bank (GIB) have signed a two-and-a-half year $60 million structured remittance-backed term loan facility with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) of Ghana.
A statement issued by Citi said the purpose of the facility was to fund certain aspects of the ADB’s requirements to promote agricultural and other exports from Ghana within the overall implementation of the country’s National Agriculture and Export programmes.
It said ‘this landmark transaction is the third structured term facility that Citi has arranged for the ADB, following successful transactions in 1998, 2003 and 2005.
The 2005 facility was a US$40 million remittance backed transaction that was credit enhanced through Western Union workers remittances. The proceeds of the 2005 facility were also used towards financing the Agricultural Development Bank’s end-user foreign exchange requirements for agricultural usage in Ghana.
Ghana International Bank plc has had a long and close working relationship with ADB spanning several areas of international banking, including trade finance, cash management, treasury services and transaction services.
Commenting after the signing of the facility, Joe Mensah, Ghana International Bank plc’s Managing Director, said: “We are pleased to have been mandated jointly with Citi to arrange this landmark deal which acts as a catalyst to the growth of the Ghanaian economy, and we see it as a logical step in the development of our relationship and commitment to ADB.”
Citi’s representative office in Accra was opened in October 2002. Supported by Citi’s global footprint, it offers advisory and execution services for the full range of structured finance and debt products, and its Global Transaction Services unit offers trade services and finance, cash management and treasury services, including derivatives and foreign exchange.
Citi has received numerous awards, including Best Debt House, Best Investment Bank and Best Cash Management in Africa from Euromoney magazine.
“Citi is proud to be associated with this successful transaction which promotes the continued development of Ghana’s vital agricultural sector. Citi's commitment to Ghana also includes charitable and voluntary work funded by the Citi Foundation. This $60 million term facility to Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) adds to this positive history of collaboration, and allows ADB to further intensify its support to the agricultural sector in Ghana" said Joseph Carasso, Citi Country Officer for Ghana.