Absa Group has entered into an agreement with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency to bolster the bank’s lending capacity in Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda and Zambia.
The World Bank’s MIGA will issue guarantees of $497m (just over R7bn), valid for as long as 15 years, to Johannesburg-based Absa, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
This will help shield Absa from risks associated with the mandatory capital reserves it is required to hold with various central banks.
It will free Absa’s subsidiaries in the region to provide more financing to corporates, small- and medium-sized enterprises and projects that will benefit the climate, Absa said.