MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Arranges Syndicated Loan of $162m for Access Bank of Nigeria, Supporting Private Sector, Including MSMEs

The Dutch development bank, which is known by the acronym FMO, recently arranged a syndicated loan of USD 162.5 million for Nigeria-based Access Bank. In addition to FMO, the participating lenders are the BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund, which is managed by BlueOrchard of Switzerland; Dutch cooperative Oikocredit; and the following government-backed institutions: the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO); CDC Group of the UK; Germany’s Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG); European Financing Partners, which is headquartered in Luxembourg; and Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund). The funding from European Financing Partners is sourced from the European Community and Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund).

Access Bank CEO Herbert Wigwe described the Tier-II funding as “supporting the bank’s efforts to promote the growth and job-creation potential of the private sector through improved access to financing. Additionally, specific attention will also be paid to strengthening micro-, small, and medium-size enterprises, as too many have been held back due to a lack of access to finance.”

Established in 1989, Access Bank provides institutional, commercial and retail banking services via 310 branches in nine African countries and the UK. The firm’s non-banking subsidiaries are: (1) United Securities Limited; (2) Access Homes and Mortgages Limited; and (3) Access Investment and Securities. As of 2017, Access Bank had total assets of NGN 4.1 trillion (USD 11.2 billion), a gross loan portfolio of NGN 2.1 trillion (USD 5.7 billion) and deposits of NGN 2.2 trillion (USD 6 billion).

Established in 1970, FMO is 51-percent held by the Dutch government and 49-percent by private sector institutions. The bank works toward the UN’s sustainable development goals by placing debt and equity investments in sectors such as agribusiness, financial institutions, energy and capacity development. During the first half of 2018, the bank had a net profit of EUR 124 million (USD 141 million) on a portfolio of EUR 9 billion (USD 10.2 billion).

By Umit Naz Deryaoglu, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

FMO press release
https://www.fmo.nl/news-detail/f943852f-d4c8-4d5c-890a-985ceff86da0/fmo-arranges-usd-162-5-million-syndicated-loan-to-access-bank-plc

Access Bank homepage
https://www.accessbankplc.com

Access Bank 2017 financial report
https://www.accessbankplc.com/AccessBankGroup/media/Investors/Annual-Reports/2017-Annual-Report.pdf

BIO homepage
http://www.bio-invest.be

BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund background
http://www.blueorchard.com/investment-solutions/investment-fund/

CDC Group homepage
https://www.cdcgroup.com

DEG homepage
https://www.deginvest.de/

European Financing Partners homepage
https://www.edfi.eu/facility/efp/

Finnfund homepage
https://www.finnfund.fi/

Oikocredit homepage
https://www.oikocredit.coop