On Monday, November 12, 2018, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) of Gabon signed a 30 million euro (19.6 billion CFA francs) loan agreement with Afreximbank in Cairo, Egypt. This loan will be used to finance the Wood Industry Loan Fund (WILF) administered by its subsidiary CDC Capital.

The signature took place between Bénédict OKEY ORAMAH, Chairman and CEO of Afreximbank, and Hermann NZOUNDOU BIGNOUMBA, Director and CEO of CDC Gabon, at Afreximbank's headquarters in Cairo (Egypt). In the presence of Gabriel NTOUGOU, Director General of the NKOK Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Wood Industry Loan Fund (WILF) provides revolving loans to timber companies in the NKOK Preferred Economic Zone to finance their operating cycle.

This new funding mechanism will increase production and increase employment.

The loans will be available as a short-term revolving credit facility.

The fund will finance some 50 companies in the NKOK SEZ, incorporated as commercial companies under Gabonese law operating in the wood processing industry.

The financing will be between 450,000 and 1500,000 euros (300 million and 1 billion CFA francs), over renewable three-month periods, for a period of two years.

They will be covered by GSEZ SA's first-demand guarantee, up to 20% of the amount lent.

"This initiative contributes to accelerating the development of the NKOK SEZ, and will encourage companies in the wood sector as well as industrial wood processing and recovery units to set up in the area, in order to benefit from the advantages it offers. »