The Board of the African Development Bank has approved a $15 million trade finance credit for Unibank.

The facility will enhance UniBank's capacity to finance small and medium enterprises and local firms operating within the tradable sector in Ghana.

The three-year facility will be used to support trade finance instruments issued largely in favour of SMEs to address critical market demand for Trade Finance and dollar liquidity in Ghana. Sectors to benefit from the support include non-traditional exports, agri-business, construction and light manufacturing. It is also expected to facilitate approximately 90 million dollar of export-import related activity in intermediate and finished goods, raw materials and equipment to support economic growth.

The proposed facility aligns with AfDB’s Ten-Year and Regional Integration strategies to increase access to financial services for the underserved and to broaden and deepen Africa’s financial systems.

It also aligns with the Bank’s Private Sector Strategy by contributing to the improvement of the investment and business climate in Ghana by supporting UniBank with medium-term trade finance; promoting enterprise development through increased access to appropriate trade finance for SMEs and local businesses.

About Unibank

UniBank is a mid-sized, indigenous Ghanaian bank registered, headquartered in Accra, Ghana. It has 37 branches located across eight of Ghana's 10 regions. UniBank is recognized by its peers as a leading provider of finance to the SME sector in Ghana and strong promoter of gender equality. It has total assets of about US $781 million and shareholders' funds of US $72 million. As at August 2015, it ranked 8th out of the 30 banks in Ghana in terms of assets. SME lending accounts for an estimated 40% of UniBank's loan portfolio and 80% of its borrowing clientele.