Afreximbank signs $150m deal with UBA

United Bank for Africa (UBA) plc has received a trade finance facility worth $150m from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

The facility forms part of Afreximbank’s Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa (AKAFPA), and the signing ceremony for the trade finance was concluded, by both institutions, on the sidelines of the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair, organised by Afreximbank in Cairo on Saturday.

The terms of the agreement state that the facility will be utilised to finance trade and trade-related transactions in support of UBA’s Clients. In addition, the facility will aid increased financing of trade businesses in various sectors of the Nigerian economy thereby mitigating the adverse effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Denys Denya, the executive vice-president of Afreximbank, said “The funding is driven by an increased demand for trade finance support to UBA’s clients who will enhance confidence in the settlement of international trade transactions for strategic imports. This is pivotal to Afreximbank’s mandate for supporting SMEs particularly those in the manufacturing sector to be able to increase production thereby supporting economic growth and development in Nigeria.

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Oliver Alawuba, UBA’s group managing director/CEO, said: “This facility will further boost our quest to deepen intra-Africa trade which has been severely constrained by the impact of the war in Ukraine.

“We have a long-standing beneficial relationship with Afreximbank, we are delighted with our partnership as we jointly envision better dealings for our customers,” Alawuba said.

UBA is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than thirty-seven million customers across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.

With a presence in New York, London and Paris and now the UAE, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary banking services.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.