GHANA – First National Bank Ghana has secured a long-term loan of US$85 million from European development finance institutions (DFIs) to help minimize the impact of the pandemic on the private sector, particularly on SMEs.

“The world at large is still dealing with the impact of the pandemic. We cannot downplay the importance of scaling up financial support that will help minimize the impact of the pandemic, particularly on SMEs,” Dominic Adu, CEO of First National Bank Ghana emphasized

“That is why we will capitalize on funding from institutions like DEG to engineer the expansion of real estate developments and ensure the sustainability of the private sector in Ghana.”

The US$85 million loan was syndicated by German Development Bank DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) which provided US$30 million from its own coffers.

Other European DFIs that participated in the loan include Finnfund  from Finland, France’s Proparco and Norway’s Norfund.

Petra Kotte, Head of division Financial Institutions and German Business at DEG said, “With our commitment in Ghana, we are strengthening the real estate sector for private households.”

He further noted that through the invest in First Bank Ghana, DEG was also providing support to SMEs, which are important employers and the driving force behind the private sector, especially in the current situation.

First National Bank Ghana was founded in 2015 with a strong digital banking focus and has been developing successfully ever since.

The Bank which is part of the broader FNB franchise Bank has in 5 years become an established player in its market, with 500 employees and an extended presence across Greater Accra, Ashanti and Western Regions.

The Bank acquired and integrated GHL Bank, Ghana’s leading provider of mortgage financing, in a bid to expand its market presence in the West Africa nation.

The funding from the European DFI’s this will thus assist First National Bank Ghana’s strategy to grow this important asset portfolio.

DEG has partnered with FNB’s parent, FirstRand since 2002 and in 2019, it provided FirstRand with a long-term loan of $50m, its largest financing project in Africa to date.

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