Over the past year, Standard Bank Group has put together a number of groundbreaking deals on behalf of our corporate clients around the world. One of these multi-million-US-dollar deals involved being the sole arranger of a US$15-million finance facility required by Agro Traders Ltd.
As one of Nigeria’s largest cocoa exporters. Agro Traders handles about 15% of the country’s cocoa output.
This arranged finance facility was the first of its kind provided in Nigeria by a local bank ie Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of Standard Bank Group, to a local exporter. Even the legal documents were drawn up by a local legal counsel, making it a deal truly “Made in Nigeria”.
This deal provides significant support to the Nigerian cocoa industry, which is currently undergoing regeneration as part of the Nigerian federal government’s efforts to encourage the growth of the agricultural sector and to enhance the country’s non-oil exports and revenues.
Global Trade Review, a leading international trade finance magazine, named this deal as one of the “Best Deals of 2009”.
