PTA Bank rebrands to TDB Bank

By Seth Green

The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, commonly known as PTA Bank, has changed its official brand name to TDB (Trade and Development Bank) as it seeks to increase financing.

 

The regional multilateral Development Finance Institution (DFI), which has been in operation for just over three decades, has announced that it will continue to increase financing for priority sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, industry and agribusiness across the 20 member states it operates in, over the next five years.

 

“Our rebranding represents our rejuvenation and renewed commitment to innovate and play a more active role in promoting trade, economic development and regional integration, at a crucial time when the region is looking to more vigorously advance economic transformation and ratchet up the tapering growth” said Admassu Tadesse, President and Chief Executive of the Trade and Development Bank.

 

Tadesse added that their loan assests had tripled over the last five years owing to increased boost from financing of trade, enterprise and infrastructure.

 

“We will continue scaling up, with continued attention to sustainability and good corporate governance.” He says.

 

The Bank has financed numerous agribusiness projects throughout eastern and southern Africa, notably Malawi and Sudan, and provided important asset finance facilities to the air-transport sector in the region, with Rwanda Air, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines benefitting.

 

“We have increased our capacity to meet the rising demand for the Bank’s products and services, due to the strong funding partnerships we have built up with long term funders and investors,” added Mary Kamari, Director of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations.

 

The Bank has also funded renewable energy projects like the Turkana Wind Power in Kenya, Hydromax Minihydro in Uganda, and industrial projects such as cement and steel plants in DR Congo, Djibouti, Zambia, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.

 

Other landmark projects they funded includes the Burundi Fibre Optic Backbone Project and Kilwa Power in Tanzania.

Established in 1985, TDB is a multilateral, treaty-based financial institution with immunities and privileges, and currently a balance sheet of about USD 4 billion.

 

With  shareholders of 20 member countries from the tripartite region (COMESA, EAC and SADC), the African Development Bank, the National Pension Fund of Mauritius, Mauritian Eagle Insurance Company Ltd,  Rwanda Social Security Board, Africa Re, ZEP RE, Seychelles Pension Fund, Banco Nacional Investimento (BNI), the National Social Security Fund of Uganda and SACOS Group as institutional shareholders, while the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Belarus (Paritetbank) are non-regional member countries.