Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) and Israel Export Insurance Corporation have entered into an agreement under which ECI will provide buyer’s credit guarantees to the funding bank for Ghana’s AED 540 million ($147 million) healthcare project.
This project comprises the construction of a new general regional hospital in Tema, the largest port city in Ghana, which will function as a secondary referral centre with teaching facilities. It also includes a new primary level facility at Nkoranza with specialised services, an accident and emergency centre to augment services within an existing hospital at Dormaa, and a redeveloped medical store and mechanical workshop in Accra.
The agreement, signed by Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI and Nissim Ben Eli, CEO of ASHRA, is related to the first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project between the UAE and Israel after the signing of the historic Abraham Accords in September 2020.
Hosted by the partner bank in the project, Israel Discount Bank (IDB), the signing ceremony took place on June 19th in Tel Aviv.
It brings together both countries’ export credit agencies, Ghana’s Ministry of Finance, a healthcare construction company, and a commercial bank.
It also sets the stage for broader economic and trade partnerships following another historic milestone – the signing of the UAE-Israel Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
The Ministry of Health of Ghana awarded the contract to EDC International, a leading Israel engineering and construction company with a presence in the UAE.
EDC International will execute the project’s second phase with a total value of AED 406 million (EUR 105 million), which is expected to provide ease of access to advanced medical facilities for several thousands of Ghanaian citizens.
Under the agreement, ECI co-guarantee with ASHRA the financing facility offered by IDB to the Ministry of Finance of Ghana, which will pay EDC International to construct the hospitals. ECI will provide AED 185 million in reinsurance coverage, accounting for 49 per cent of the total coverage offered for the second phase of the project.
By partnering with ASHRA on this project, Etihad Credit Insurance has also generated AED 185 million (EUR 48 million) worth of economic activity through exports and re-exports of products and services from the UAE.
Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade and Deputy Chairman of ECI’s Board of Directors, said, “ECI’s efforts will help to boost momentum from our recently signed trade deal with Israel and unlock new trade and investment opportunities across the Middle East, Africa and beyond. In the first quarter of 2022 itself, the total value of non-oil trade between the UAE and Israel exceeded the USD 1 billion mark, and there’s much more room to grow.”