The Standard Chartered Bank has signed a UK Export Finance (UKEF)-backed agreement with the government of the Republic of Ghana, in which the latter through the ministry of finance is seeking a total of €78mn to support the design, construction and equipping of a new Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua.
The new Regional Hospital project will be undertaken by a joint venture company, formed by Ellipse Projects and Tyllium, a French headquartered company that provides Engineering and Contracting services, Professional telecom works and services as well as Electromechanical engineering services in the African market.
The two signed a €70mn commercial contract with the Ghanaian government last month, for the execution of the first phase of the project which entails the construction of a 285-bed hospital. Phase two will potentially expand the capacity to 600 beds.
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This project is part of the government efforts to build multiple health centers across the nation, in response to growing fears surrounding the health impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Key players in the loan request
The Standard Chartered Bank is acting as the lead coordinator and the original lender and will provide a €17.6mn commercial loan with a tenor of five years. The majority of the financing (€60.2mn) which is divided into two tranches i.e. a direct loan and a buyer’s credit facility, will come from the UKEF.
Ed Harkins, the managing director of the GKB Ventures consultancy firm, which acted as Tyllium’s export credit agency (ECA) advisor, said that the direct loan tranche tapped “the very favorable fixed-rate funding at the prevailing OECD CIRR (commercial interest reference rate)”, adding that, “The direct loan was essential to ensuring that this vital health project could be funded on affordable terms during what was an extremely volatile funding market.”
Other key players in this agreement are the Global law firm Sullivan $ Worcester which served as transaction counsel and the ENSafrica, which provided local legal advice.
