UBA partners AfCFTA to support SME’s with $6bn investment
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has signed an agreement with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to invest $6billion as funding for African Small and Medium Enterprises within the next three years.
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A breakdown of the $6bn investment shows that a total of $1.2bn has been budgeted for the year 2023; $1.9bn for 2024 and $2.88bn for 2025.
The UBA signed the agreement with AfCFTA on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the 30th Afreximbank Annual Meeting (AAM) which was held in Accra.
By this agreement, UBA will provide financial services in four main areas which are agro-processing, automotive, pharmaceuticals and transport and logistics to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in all the 20 African countries where UBA operates.
These countries are Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Congo DRC, Chad and Cameroun.
Access to finance
One of the key initiatives of the AfCFTA Agreement focuses on improving access to finance and markets for SMEs to encourage their growth and contribution to the socio-economic development of Africa.
The UBA Group’s Deputy Managing Director, Muyiwa Akinyemi, who signed the agreement on behalf of the group, noted that as Africa’s global bank, the UBA remained committed towards supporting SMEs in Africa, especially given its robust network, which is spread across 20 countries.
He said, “We entered into this partnership because we see the future of intra-African payments developed by AfCFTA, which will ease payment constraints across 54 countries in Africa (with about 40 different currencies) powered by Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).”
“However, we need to develop these businesses before we can talk about helping them trade, which is the strength of the UBA, as we are vital in supporting SMEs and with our presence in 20 African countries, we say your small business is big business,” he added.
Africa’s industrialisation
On his part, the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, H.E. Wamkele Mene, emphasised the need to catalyse Africa's industrialisation and boost intra-Africa trade.
This, he said, would improve the socio-economic well-being of the continent and its people which he noted was a key factor behind the partnership.
“The Secretariat is committed to supporting SMEs as critical drivers of African economies. We recognise the financing gap SMEs face on the continent and intend to mitigate this gap through this important partnership.