Coronation Merchant Bank said it partnered with International Finance Corporation to launch an N14.4bn Trade Finance Guarantee facility to boost financing for local businesses and enhance inter-continental trade.
A statement said the IFC is a sister organisation of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group.
The organisation is a global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, it stated.
It stated that it worked with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, using their capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities where they were needed most.
In 2019, it added, the IFC delivered more than $19bn in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.
The partnership with Coronation Merchant Bank marked a major milestone for the Nigerian financial sector as it heralded the return of IFC to Nigeria, it stated.
Since the last five years, it stated, the IFC had not done any new enrolment under the GTFP in Nigeria, following a break in the Nigerian market in 2015.
The decision to partner with Coronation Merchant Bank was an attestation of the growth and development recorded in the Nigerian financial sector over the last few years, it stated.
It said the gesture sent a positive signal to investors and other international financiers while positioning the bank as a foremost institution in global trade.
In the statement, IFC Regional Industry Head, Financial Institutions Group for Europe and Centra Asia, Vittorio Di Bello, said, “Increasing access to trade finance for local businesses is an important mechanism to support the development of the private sector in emerging markets. We expect this financing to help boost inter-continental trade and spur economic growth for the region.”