Standard Chartered announces the signing of a EUR 280 million social loan financing for the Ministry of Finance, Ghana (MoF Ghana) to develop a section of the vital highway, the Eastern Corridor, that will transform the country’s transport infrastructure.
The financing is backed by Euler Hermes, the German Export Credit Agency, and INZAG Germany GmbH, a client of the Bank, is the chosen Engineering, Procurement, and Construction, contractor. Standard Chartered is acting as Bookrunner, Mandated Lead Arranger, Structuring Bank, Social Loan Coordinator, Original Lender, and Agent.
In an industry first, Standard Chartered structured the financing to fully comply with the recently published Social Loan Principles (SLPs). This is the first time a Social Loan has been structured not only in Ghana but on the wider African continent.
The project is eligible because of its objective to improve the basic transport network, which is categorized as affordable basic infrastructure. The project will also contribute towards meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 9, which relates to industry, innovation, and infrastructure.
Desislava Radeva, Director, Structured Export Finance, Standard Chartered Bank, said: “We are proud to build on our strong relationship with the Ministry of Finance, Ghana to deliver a bespoke ECA-backed solution to enable the development of this critical infrastructure project. We are equally excited to have signed the first Social Loan in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
The Ghana Eastern Corridor is the National Road N2 that starts at the Tema roundabout and ends in Kulungugu, the northeastern border with Burkina Faso. Standard Chartered’s financing will fund a particular intersection of the road, otherwise known as Lot 1, which includes two flyovers and interchanges, 11 pedestrian bridges, and three mixed bridges in a dual carriageway. It stretches from the Ashaiman roundabout and ends at the Akosombo Junction, Madina; a distance of 64km.
Source: Ghana Web