(Global Construction Review, London, 15 October 2024) After 9 years of striving, the government of Uganda yesterday signed a contract with Turkish contractor Yapı Merkezi to build the first section of the country’s standard gauge railway. The €2.7bn deal was formalised in the capital Kampala by Bageya Waiswa, the permanent secretary for public works, and Erdem Arıoğlu, the vice chair of Yapı Merkezi. Waiswa said Uganda would use its own funds and loans from the UK’s Standard Chartered bank, backed by export credit guarantees, to finance the project. The deal follows a number of false starts. As far back as 2015, Uganda entered into an agreement with China Harbour, a subsidiary of China Communications, to implement the project, on the condition that Chinese capital would be made available to pay for the work. The reluctance of China’s Export–Import Bank to finance the scheme led Uganda last year to abandon the contract, clearing the way for the Turkish deal.
Turkey
Türk Eximbank expected to provide exporters $41 billion in 2023
(Daily Sabah, Istanbul, 19 December 2023) The funding that Türkiye’s state-owned financial institution providing banking services to exporters extended this year is expected to reach $41 billion (TL 1.19 trillion) by the end of 2023, its chairperson said Tuesday. Export Credit Bank of Türkiye (Türk Eximbank) has provided $38 billion from January through November, General Manager Ali Güney said, adding that they supported 16,800 exporters, with the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) ratio reaching 84%. “In 2022, we supported a total of 15,440 exporters, of which 81% were SMEs, while in 2023, the number of supported exporters increased to 16,800, with an SME ratio of 84%,” Güney told Anadolu Agency (AA). In another Daily Sabah article of 29 December, it was noted that Türk Eximbank had become a shareholder in the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider. Türk Eximbank’s first investment in an African entity makes it the first non-African sovereign shareholder in the AFC, it said in a statement.
UKEF is not building a multimillion pound railway line in Turkey
(Full Fact, London, 26 July 2023) Earlier this week Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham tweeted a screenshot of a UK government press release with the headline “UK announces £680m for new high-speed electric railway in Turkey”. Alongside the screenshot, Mr Burnham tweeted “So we can’t afford to keep our own ticket offices open – but we can afford to build a new line in Turkey?” Mr Burnham’s suggestion that the UK is financing a new railway line in Turkey is misleading—the £680 million figure used in the government press release refers to a loan provided by three banks (J.P. Morgan, ING Bank and BNP Paribas) which has been underwritten by the UK government’s export credit agency. The Italian, Austrian and Swiss export credit agencies are also providing reinsurance.
Norway’s Eksfin accused of ‘climate hypocrisy’ for financing Turkish gas field
(Enviro News, Lagos, 9 June 2023) The Norwegian government has been accused of climate hypocrisy after it emerged that the government export credit agency, Eksfin, has approved finance for the Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea. The Sakarya gas field project, owned by Turkish Petroleum, a Turkish state-owned enterprise, is considered to contain “the largest gas reserves discovered in the Turkish Exclusive Economic Zone as well as in the Black Sea.” The field is set to continue production “until the field reaches its economic limit in 2057.” Norway has previously been criticised for being the last country in north-west Europe to not sign the Glasgow Statement, an agreement at the COP26 climate conference that commits signatories to end government-backed finance for international fossil fuel projects. Previous analysis of the Sakarya gas field by Oil Change International shows that the project will emit at least 140 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in its first phase. Norway’s annual emissions of 48.9 million tonnes (as of 2022) mean this project will emit nearly three times the annual emissions of the entire country. Campaigners are accusing the Norwegian government of inconsistency and hypocrisy. While Norway is a major donor to aid projects that help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change, it is also financing fossil fuel projects that make climate change worse.
Etihad Credit to play a role in UAE’s move away from oil
(Gulf Today, Dubai, 15 May 2022) Massimo Falcioni, CEO of Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the official export support agency of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), welcomed Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s election as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and his role in steering the UAE economy towards independence from oil. In this process, Greek and Turkish ECAs have recently signed cooperation agreements with Etihad Credit. Greece, keen to attract investment from the UAE, has agreed to create a €4 billion ($4.22bn) initiative to invest in the Greek economy during a visit by Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Abu Dhabi on May 9th. Last year, the countries’ official export credit agencies signed an agreement to boost bilateral trade. In 2020, the two states inked a foreign policy and defense cooperation deal. A cooperation agreement has also been signed between Türk Eximbank and ECI The signing of the deal occurred amid the 2022 spring meeting in Istanbul of the International Association of Export Credits and Investment Insurers, also known as Berne Union, of which Türk Eximbank became a member in 1994. The said agreement aims to provide co-financing for projects involved in the export of goods and services in both countries, as well as sharing information between institutions.
EKF issues ‘biggest ever’ loan for Turkey railway project
(Global Trade Review, London, 8 December 2021) Danish export credit agency EKF has signed its largest ever export loan for the construction of a high-speed railway project in Turkey. The agency is lending €576mn to the Turkish finance ministry for the project. The loan is classified as green because the electric railway is categorised as sustainable under the EU’s sustainable financing taxonomy. The total value of the financing is €1.1bn, which includes contributions from Swedish public finance and export credit bodies EKN and SEK. Standard Chartered and several other commercial lenders are also involved in the deal, but their exact roles have not yet been disclosed.
KDF to acquire 118 APCs from Turkey at US$7.4 million
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 5- The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is set to acquire 118 Armoured Personnel Vehicles (APCs) from Turkey, in a move meant to bolster its resilience power in the war against terrorism. Kenya is expected to spend Kenyan Sh7.7 billion to purchase the 118 APCs through the Turkish Export Credit Agency. The APCs will be acquired from the Turkish defense and automotive firm Katmerciler. Two other firms, one from South Africa and North America, were locked out of the multi-billion shillings deal.
Turkish ECA finances US$70 million Kenyan armored car deal
(Defense News, Virginia, 29 January 2021) Kenya’s military has ordered 118 four-wheel drive personnel carriers from Turkish armored vehicles manufacturer Katmerciler. Kenya Defence Forces spokesperson Col. Zipporah Kioko told local press that the Ministry of Defence is finalizing the deal for the mine-resistant, ambush-protected Hizir vehicles through Turkey’s Export Credit Agency. Kenya’s military will primarily deploy the Hizir vehicles for counterterror operations against the al-Shabab militant group in Somolia. Reports have emerged of growing disquiet among Kenyan military ranks over the planned acquisition from the Turkish firm amid safety concerns. The vehicles, said to have fallen short of User Specifications Requirements (USR) set by the Kenya Army, were approved in a single sourcing deal by the Defense Procurement Board. Two other firms, one from South African and another from North America, were locked out of the multi-billion shillings deal, despite having more internationally accepted military vehicles.
Temporary relaxation of EU state aid rules could counter foreign takeovers
(The Asset, 22 April 2020) European Union rules on state aid to private sector companies, including short term export credits, have been suspended until December as national governments step up financial packages to rescue their corporations. A recent report notes that the Covid-19 crisis has come at a time when the EU was already putting in place rules that bring foreign takeovers under tighter control. These takeover rules provide a framework for EU member states to screen foreign direct investments into the EU, on the grounds of security or public order. With many companies across the EU going into administration, foreign buyers are looking to acquire assets at bargain prices. Politicians in both the UK and Germany have already identified Chinese investors as being at the forefront. A deal agreed by Turkey and China last month was largely overshadowed by news that the coronavirus could lead to Chinese firms taking much bigger stakes in Turkish companies struggling to cope with the fallout from the pandemic.
Japanese and French ECAs to finance Turkey’s second nuclear plant
(Daily Sabah, Istanbul, 25 February 2019) Turkey’s second nuclear power plant to be built in Sinop under a Japanese-French partnership, will make a breakthrough by obtaining a ground license this year. The plant, which will have an installed capacity of 4,480 megawatts (MW) and consist of four reactors with a 1,120-MW capacity each, will cost $20 billion. The Japanese and Turkish governments agreed in 2013 on the project to be built with a Japanese-French consortium in the Black Sea province of Sinop. The bulk of the project would be financed by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), Japan’s export credit agency, and French credit insurer Coface.
