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Skye Bank to raise $1.5b for business support

By on March 23, 2011

Skye Bank Plc is to raise $1.5 billion from international funding agencies for lending. The move is informed by the increasing demand for credit arising from growing business fortunes of its customers.

[quote_left] The bank’s Head of International Funding Group, Mrs Moji Hunponu-Wusu, who disclosed this at the weekend, said this figure represents a tremendous push from the $500 million Skye Bank raised for its customers last year. [/quote_left]

She explained that under the bank’s specialised transactions, a risk management hedging product avails dollar funding to companies with dollar receivables and income and as such are hedged against fluctuations in the rate of the dollar, adding that beneficiaries of the facility would have the advantage of single digit interest rate and long repayment period due to the fact that such international funds are obtained at low rates.

Mrs. Hunponu-Wusu said the low cost of funds would translate to tremendous advantage for the enterpreneurs as they would be able to increase output and sell more, thereby translating those benefits to the average Nigerian.

Among businesses financed under the International Funding Group, she indicated, are infrastructure, hotels and vessels that get dollar income.

Skye Bank’s international financial engagement, has earned it the African Export-Import Bank’s (AFREXIM) financial institutions’ award as a foremost promoter and financier of African trade for year 2010.

The Cairo, Egypt-based bank, pronounced Skye Bank winner of the 2010 award in the Silver category of the financial institutions for its “commendable contributions towards the promotion and financing of African trade.”

Skye Bank has been playing an active and frontline role in export financing, granting of credit facilities to African manufacturers as well as providing and maintaining trade information systems in support of export business.

The bank has also extended funding support to the oil and gas, telecommunications and the manufacturing sector as part of its contributions to support the growth of the nation’s economy.

Source: The Nation