$20m loan boosts regional trade

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has provided a $20-million credit facility to Nigeria-based industrial giant, Innoson Technical and Industrial Company (ITIC), for the purchase of inputs for production of plastic goods in a transaction aimed at giving a substantial boost to regional trade across West and Central Africa. ITIC is the biggest manufacturer of plastic products in Nigeria which manufactures plastic chairs, tables, trays, plates, spoons, cups, jerry cans and other allied products. It will use the credit facility to purchase raw materials from China and from the Eleme Petro Chemical Plant in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, for producing finished plastic goods for sale in Nigeria and across West and Central Africa. At the signing ceremony at the Afreximbank Headquarters in Cairo last month, Dr Benedict Oramah, the Bank’s executive vice president in charge of Business Development and Corporate Banking, said that the transaction reflected Afreximbank’s commitment to supporting indigenous manufacturing efforts across Africa