- Details
- Parent Category: Local News
- Category: Finance
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10 Sep 2013
- Published on Tuesday, 10 September 2013 14:19
- Written by newbusinessethiopia
Ethiopian Airlines secures a total of $40 million loan from the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA) to finance housing project of its employees.
The two sides signed a $ 22 million loan agreement on Monday (September 9,2013) here in Addis Ababa at Capital. According to the agreement, the loan will go to financing the first phase of the Airlines housing project which aims to build 1,192 houses for its employees.
PTA Bank was established 29 years ago as the bank of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Ethiopia is a founding member of the bank which has now a total of 17 member countries and two stakeholders, namely the Peoples Republic of China and African Development Bank.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ethiopian CEO Tewolde Gebre-Mariam said that the agreement was part of a bigger loan that the Bank has approved to provide for the Airlines. He added that it can be considered as an agreement between two pan-African institutions.
Ethiopian Airlines, not only covers the entire Africa by flying to 46 destinations in the continent, but also is providing training and aircraft maintenance to Africans thereby proving its being a pan-African airlines, Tewolde explained.
According to the CEO, the housing project is part of the effort the Airlines is undertaking to retain its human resources, who otherwise migrate to the developed world in search of better facilities that include housing.
PTA Bank President and Chief Executive Admasu Tadesse said on the occasion that the Bank has decided to make the Ethiopian as one of the beneficiaries of its loan services because it has a great deal of confidence on the Airlines. "By supporting the Ethiopian Airlines, we believe we can support the entire region," Admasu said.
Apart from Ethiopian Airlines, Habesha Cement, a company formed with share offering to the public about five years ago and has not not began operation, will also be another beneficiary of PTA Bank's loan services.
"Ethiopia is one of the largest member states of the Bank both by population and by GDP. While the Bank has not been in a position to do much in Ethiopia in the past, the strong growth in the Bank's capital and the expanded investment opportunities in the fast growing economy should enable us to do more," he added.
Meanwhile, PTA Bank is holding its 29th board of directors general meeting here in Addis Ababa. During the five-day meeting, PTA Bank is expected, among others, to hold a business seminar which intends to create a platform for the Ethiopian business community to meet with senior management of the Bank and share information about the Bank's products and services.
Opening the meeting, Finance and Economic Development State Minister Ahmed Shide said that the main challenge facing the private sector in Ethiopia and other African countries at large is provision of finance required for their investment.
Despite its impressive growth performance, Ethiopia, like most African countries has not made significant progress in mobilizing domestic resources for development, the State Minister noted, adding this calls for mobilization of external resources through various means including foreign direct investment, grants and loans. " It is my pleasure to recognize PTA Bank as one of the key development partners helping our private sector, in providing finance required for investment in various sectors."
