Total Gets $7.5 Billion Syndicate Loan from Nigerian Banks

Eight Nigerian banks have agreed to fund Total’s contractor initiative with $7.5 billion. The Banks – Access Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank – signed a Memorandom of Understanding (MoU) with Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Total Upstream Nigeria Limited. The Managing Director/Chief Executive of Total Nigeria, Guy Maurice, said that, “The essence of the initiative, was to bridge the funding gap for the company’s local contractors which included vendors and suppliers. The MoU provides for sustainable funding relationship between the banks and Total’s indigenous contractors, adding that, the initiative was line with the Nigerian local content laws.” The banks, under the agreement, would specifically finance Total’s local contractors and the payment would be domiciled in the banks. Speaking on the agreement, the Managing Director of Ecobank, Jibril Aku, said, “This is a good initiative and we are pleased to have been selected as one of the banks after a rigorous process. We have long relationship with Total and some of our customers work with them. I can assure you that we will add value to the programme. The key challenge now is how to make a success of this programme, so that we can continue to develop and grow new customers coming to the bank.”