The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the disbursement of a $40 million Intra-African Investment Facility to Fidelity Bank Nigeria Plc (Fidelity) to support its acquisition and recapitalization of Union Bank UK. This move is part of Fidelity Bank\u2019s international expansion program.<\/p>\n
The facility, provided in two tranches of $20 million each, facilitated Fidelity Bank\u2019s purchase of a 100% equity stake in Union Bank UK. The first tranche helped refinance the acquisition, while the second tranche was used to recapitalize the acquired bank by injecting additional equity, as approved by the United Kingdom\u2019s financial regulator.<\/p>\n
With this acquisition, Fidelity Bank aims to establish a new pan-African financial institution that can offer correspondent banking and offshore banking services to African banks and meet the banking needs of Africans in the diaspora.<\/p>\n
Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President of the Intra-African Trade Bank and Export Development Bank at Afreximbank, highlighted the significance of this transaction. “Fidelity Bank’s acquisition of Union Bank UK aligns with Afreximbank\u2019s Intra-African Investment Facility, marking a significant milestone for both institutions,” said Awani. “This initiative reinforces African ownership and control within the global financial landscape. By supporting this strategic transaction, we bolster Nigeria\u2019s banking sector and promote greater financial integration between Africa and its diaspora. This effort is a testament to our commitment to enhancing intra-African trade, promoting economic stability, and driving forward the objectives of Agenda 2063 for a prosperous and self-reliant Africa.”<\/p>\n
Awani further explained that Afreximbank\u2019s Bank Acquisition Strategy empowers African entities to acquire financial assets divested by foreign entities in Africa and the diaspora. This aligns with the Bank\u2019s Diaspora Strategy, which seeks to integrate the African diaspora with the rest of the continent. Through the facility, Fidelity Bank extends its services to the UK, targeting Africans and African-owned businesses with products supporting diaspora investments.<\/p>\n
Dr. (Mrs.) Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD\/CEO of Fidelity Bank, expressed gratitude for Afreximbank’s support. “We are very thankful to Afreximbank for supporting our expansionary initiatives for international growth. This outcome is the result of a strong partnership between the two institutions over the years,” Onyeali-Ikpe said. “The refinancing of the Union Bank UK acquisition by Afreximbank will unlock additional value and help create a scalable and sustainable service franchise that supports trade businesses in Africa and diaspora banking.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the disbursement of a $40 million Intra-African Investment Facility to Fidelity Bank Nigeria Plc (Fidelity) to support its acquisition and recapitalization of Union Bank UK. This move is part of Fidelity Bank\u2019s international expansion program. The facility, provided in two tranches of $20 million each, facilitated Fidelity Bank\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34337,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34333\/revisions\/34337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}