Loan helps Benin’s electricity sector

9 May 2012 – The United Bank for Africa, Benin Limited, a subsidiary of United Bank for Africa (UBA), recently acted as the lead arranger to a US$18 million syndicated mid-term loan for the national electricity company of the Benin republic.
 
The banking group says the US$18 million facility to the country’s national electricity company has contributed to improved power distribution with positive impacts on the economy. "This milestone transaction makes UBA Benin the major energy financing bank of the country," the company says.
 
Benin is dependent on imported electricity, mostly from Ghana. An agreement was signed with Togo and Ghana in 1967 under which Benin receives low-cost electricity from the Akosombo dam on the Volta River in Ghana. Benin also imports electricity from Nigeria through the CEB-NEPA power interconnection, commissioned in 2007.