• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Saturday, June 21, 2025
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Tech | Business | Economy
  • News
  • Tech
    • DisruptiveTECH
    • ConsumerTech
    • How To
    • TechTAINMENT
  • Business
    • Telecoms
    • Mobility
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • StartUPs
      • Chidiverse
    • TE Insights
    • Security
  • Partners
  • Economy
    • Finance
    • Fintech
    • Digital Assets
    • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Features
    • IndustryINFLUENCERS
    • Guest Writer
    • EventDIARY
    • Editorial
    • Appointment
  • TECHECONOMY TV
  • Apply
  • TBS
  • BusinesSENSE For SMEs
  • Chidiverse
  • News
  • Tech
    • DisruptiveTECH
    • ConsumerTech
    • How To
    • TechTAINMENT
  • Business
    • Telecoms
    • Mobility
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • StartUPs
      • Chidiverse
    • TE Insights
    • Security
  • Partners
  • Economy
    • Finance
    • Fintech
    • Digital Assets
    • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Features
    • IndustryINFLUENCERS
    • Guest Writer
    • EventDIARY
    • Editorial
    • Appointment
  • TECHECONOMY TV
  • Apply
  • TBS
  • BusinesSENSE For SMEs
  • Chidiverse
No Result
View All Result
Tech | Business | Economy
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Economy Finance

Absa is Expanding Role in Africa’s Post-Pandemic Recovery Race

by Yinka Okeowo
February 2, 2022
in Finance
0
UBA
Advertisements

The race to rebuild the global economy after the lockdowns is gathering pace. The spike in inflationary trends, disturbing food insecurity levels, failing channel management systems, the sharp increase in the number of businesses going bust, and alarming infrastructure deficit form the recent consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Hence, development agencies and state economic managers on global and regional scales have sprung into action to revive the hailing economies.

african youth and COVID19

Advertisements
MTN ADS

Recovery aids, financing instruments are being sourced to balance up the intervention policies developed across markets to stimulate quick recovery from the various shocks of the viral outbreak.

Africa, home to over 1.2 billion people, is striving hard to meet its obligations of catering to the food needs of the burgeoning population as well as closing the massive infrastructure deficit evidenced by the inconsistent supplies of electricity, decaying road transport systems, low internet penetration level, growing unemployment rate and faulty municipalities across its 30.3 million km2 surface areas.

According to the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), the lockdown rules that were implemented across the African continent led to drastic short-term income losses for informal workers as very few of the workers had access to social security protection.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) also dropped drastically as trade declined dramatically on the continent while the government capacity to keep the economy active ebbed leaving little or no means of support for the state managers.

A swift rebound from the deep deficits on the continent would require strong public-private partnerships on a socioeconomic level.

The private sector which provides as much as 90% of the employment in the economies and plays active roles in implementing key growth policies are a strong driver of national and regional economic agenda.

It is hard to imagine a faster post lockdown recovery on a large scale without effectively engaging the private sectors.

Absa, a pan Africa financial institution is spearheading the private sector’s interventions to stimulate swifter recovery in trade, investment and infrastructure development.

The bank is deploying its wider operating capability, well-tailored offerings and experience on a global scale to support the various post lockdown recovery efforts embarked upon by some state actors.

LCCI, Inflation and Naira, absa
Infrastructure challenges

One of the recent moves made by Absa to shore up efforts to rebuild the African economy is a collaborative agreement with Proparco, a French development finance institute, to help corporate SMEs recover from the lockdown’s shocks.

The collaborative economic support agreement aims to source and disburse $20 million to SMEs operating in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, tourism, retail, which have been badly hit by the Covid-19 crisis especially in South Africa.

By helping the SMEs segment stay afloat through the provision of accessible loan instruments, Absa is addressing a critical issue on the continent.

Of course, the African SMEs segment played a significant role in the continent’s impressive 5% average growth in the past decade. The segment has been a fitting lever pulled to attract investment to the continent over the years. It also topped other segments in generating employment for the population and tax revenue for various governments.

Therefore, by providing a support framework for the segment through collaborative efforts, Absa is leveraging its impressive developmental network to strengthen a key locus of economic recovery in the post-lockdown operating environment.

Speaking about the collaborative agreement between Proparco and Absa, Parin Gokaldas, Group Treasurer at Absa, said, “The agreement further enables Absa to provide financial support to corporate SMEs, a vital component of the local economy, as it recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are particularly pleased with the agreement as we view the relationship with Proparco, a significant development finance institution in Africa, as strategically important.”

For Emmanuel Haye, deputy head of the Financial Institutions Debt Group, covering Africa and Middle East, at Proparco: “…We are delighted to start this partnership with Absa Bank, a key player with a strong pan-African presence and to be part of a much-needed counter-cyclical role.”

In the same vein, Absa was recently involved in raising a $400 million syndicated loan for the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a leading infrastructure solutions provider, which targets critical infrastructure development on the continent.

The pan African bank, through its Corporate and Investment Banking division, along with a few other global banks, acted as a bookrunner and mandated lead arranger to help the AFC secure the development loan.

The involvement in the syndicate loan arrangement to boost infrastructure development in Africa is another significant intervention effort that speaks to the development focus of the bank.

Banji Fehintola, Senior Director & Treasurer at the AFC, explained, “This loan will be instrumental in working towards plugging the infrastructure gap we are facing on this continent, especially following the damaging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. We remain committed to partnering with experienced, like-minded organizations to provide sustainable finance for infrastructure development in Africa while achieving the lowest borrowing costs of any institution on the continent.”

Precisely, robust investment in infrastructure development enables trade and creates a vibrant environment that powers businesses. It provides millions of jobs each year in building and maintenance for the local population.

According to a statement released by the AFC recently, the syndicated loan will support Africa’s post-pandemic recovery “through critical development of infrastructure”. Africa no doubt is in need of strong infrastructure development support in raising the standards of road and freight networks, broadband penetration levels, and the upgrading of the continent’s electric power facilities.

Sadiq Abu, Chief Executive Officer, Absa Nigeria said, “As a pan-African financial institution committed to deepen growth and create shared value, Absa is consistently deploying its vast knowledge of the operating environment to support both public and private development actors in stimulating faster post-lockdown economic recovery on the continent.”

Loading

Author

  • Yinka Okeowo
    Yinka Okeowo

    View all posts
0Shares
Tags: Absa Nigeriainfrastructure developmentSadiq AbuSMEs
Yinka Okeowo

Yinka Okeowo

Next Post

Casava Raises $4m Pre-Seed to Develop Affordable, Accessible Insurance in Nigeria

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recommended

Interswitch and Tax

Interswitch Leads the Charge towards Revolutionizing Tax Collection in Nigeria

2 years ago
TikTok and NITDA

TikTok: DG NITDA Reiterates Needs for Safe, Inclusive Digital Environment

1 year ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    • About
    • Advertise
    • Careers
    • Contact Us

    © 2025 TECHECONOMY.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • News
    • Tech
      • DisruptiveTECH
      • ConsumerTech
      • How To
      • TechTAINMENT
    • Business
      • Telecoms
      • Mobility
      • Environment
      • Travel
      • StartUPs
        • Chidiverse
      • TE Insights
      • Security
    • Partners
    • Economy
      • Finance
      • Fintech
      • Digital Assets
      • Personal Finance
      • Insurance
    • Features
      • IndustryINFLUENCERS
      • Guest Writer
      • EventDIARY
      • Editorial
      • Appointment
    • TECHECONOMY TV
    • Apply
    • TBS
    • BusinesSENSE For SMEs

    © 2025 TECHECONOMY.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    Translate »
    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.