East African Development Bank (EADB) has secured a Sh1.5 billion ($15 million) loan from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea) for onward lending to traders in Kenya and other member countries.

The purpose of the credit is to enable EADB finance imports from eligible Arab exporters to particular importers in the East African Community (EAC) countries.

EADB – owned by Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda – usually funds regional projects in infrastructure, manufacturing, agribusiness and education sectors.

“We have continued to build relations with new lenders and development partners. To this end, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea) has established a line of credit with the EADB of an amount of $15 million,” said EADB director-general Viviane Yeda in a statement.

As at end of 2016, the EAC member states had a stake of 87.3 per cent, with African Development Bank (AfDB) holding most of the remaining shares through its 8.8 per cent shareholding, callable capital, technical assistance and funding lines.

The EADB strategic plan for the period 2016 to 2020 follows a period of business growth over the previous plan period 2011 to 2015 and an in-depth review of EADB operations and related operations policies in 2015.

In December last year, Global Credit Ratings (GCR) affirmed the long-term and short-term national scale ratings assigned to the regional lender of AA+ (UG), (KE), (TZ), (RW), and accorded it a stable outlook, besides affirming its foreign currency international scale rating of BB+.

Source: Business Daily