Lagos Get $15.7m loan from US EXIM Bank

Posted by admin Headlines, Lagos, State News Thursday, January 17th, 2013

The board of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im
Bank) has authorized a $15.7 million direct loan to Lagos State, to
underwrite the purchase of 32 American fire-fighting vehicles
manufactured by W.S. Darley & Co. (Darley) of Itasca, Ill.

The loan, which is in line with the U.S Administration’s “Doing
Business in Africa Campaign,” will support approximately 100 U.S.
jobs, according to bank estimates derived from Departments of
Commerce and Labor data and methodology.

Moreover, 65 percent of the financing is expected to support
American small businesses. According to Ex-Im Bank President, Fred
Hochberg,“This transaction reflects our continued commitment to
increasing exports to sub-Saharan Africa while supporting American
small-business, “Additionally, the financing, which targets one of our
nine key markets, ensures the government of Lagos can respond
efficiently and effectively to emergency situations.”

Lagos State is home to Nigeria’s commercial center and largest city
of the same name, plans to upgrade its fleet of fire-fighting vehicles.
The governor of Lagos has declared that the expansion and re-
equipping of the fire service is an urgent matter of state security.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that creates and
maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no
cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years (from Fiscal Year
2008), Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion
above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of
financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-
credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S.
goods and services.

Ex-Im Bank approved $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012
– an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6.1 billion
directly supporting small-business export sales – also an Ex-Im
record. Ex-Im Bank\’s total authorizations are supporting an
estimated $50 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 255,000
American jobs in communities across the country. For more
information

The company supplying the trucks is a State of Maryland based
family owned small business based in Potomac, Maryland.

Darley Company is excited to have the opportunity to work with the
Lagos Nigeria Fire Service on this important contract,” said Peter
Darley, vice president of Darley. “This project was only possible
because our customer was able to secure financing with the
assistance of Ex-Im.

As a small business, this type of support meant we were able to
compete with other companies outside of the US for this business.
Darley, as well as some of our key partner suppliers, will need to hire
new employees so we can fulfill this order.”
Culled from PSN
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