The latest example of such success is the contract for the expansion of the Namibe University in Angola between the government and the Polish Quenda Group, which will be responsible for the implementation of the project as the general contractor. In order to execute the project, a consortium of Polish exporters has been established, with participation of Torhamer, a company from Gdynia, which will be supplying the equipment for the facilities. Given the involvement of Polish companies, the project is supported by KUKE – the official Export Credit Agency of Poland – through a comprehensive cover on the financing provided by the lenders [led by Standard Chartered bank].
The project in Angola shows that Polish companies can secure significant contracts on markets where they have been present only marginally so far. What's more, they can carry out large-scale infrastructural projects on their own. In the case of the transaction with Angola, KUKE played an important role by connecting the participants of the project and securing its financing, thus making it possible to become operational. We are glad that after being involved in the project of developing the network of gynecological and maternity hospitals in Ivory Coast, we have an opportunity to support another project with such positive impact on local society, this time in education. This aspect is extremely important to us, because by doing business, we want to simultaneously develop Polish enterprises, and improve the living conditions of local communities
Janusz Władyczak, CEO of KUKE
Polish contractors will be responsible for the 3rd phase of the construction and equipment of Namibe University in Moçâmedes, Angola. Standard Chartered Bank is arranging a total term financing package of USD 73 million to the Government of Angola.
Standard Chartered has been active in Africa for many years providing financing for the development of critical infrastructure to improve essential services such as education, transportation and health care. We are proud to deliver yet another financing for a very important project for the Angolan Ministry of Finance. We are encouraged to see that Polish enterprises also want to get involved in the ongoing investments, and they are supported in this by KUKE
Desislava Radeva Director, Structured Export Finance, Standard Chartered Bank
For Quenda Group, which focuses on infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is already the third project implemented in Angola, showing that by bringing a combination of attractive offer, skills and competences and the financing, it is possible to compete for interesting projects.
At the same time, the expansion of the University of Namibe is our first project financed by a leading international bank, Standard Chartered, with support from KUKE.
At the same time, the expansion of the University of Namibe is our first project financed by a leading international bank, Standard Chartered, with support from KUKE.
We are convinced that the implementation of the project will contribute to reinforcing Poland’s image as a modern country which has a lot to offer to its African partners. While resorting to local companies for basic construction works, we will source most of sophisticated machinery and equipment, including installations and IT infrastructure, from Poland in close collaboration with our consortium partner, Torhamer. Polish teams of experts will be responsible for the elaboration of technical documentation, managing and coordinating construction works as well as logistics. We are confident the time has come for Polish companies to establish themselves internationally not just as subcontractors or suppliers but as leaders capable of delivering complex projects.
To succeed in Angola, a business needs to be well established locally with a permanent presence. It is the only way to learn the specifics of the market and to establish strong relations with local partners
Małgorzata Szymczuk, CEO of the Quenda Group
Torhamer, a company from Gdynia, already present in Lithuania and South Africa is counting on further international contracts, also in Africa.
The project in Angola is an interesting challenge for our company, both in organizational and operational terms. Together with our consortium partner, the Quenda Group, we are counting on gaining experience in cooperation with local companies and getting to know the market better, which will result in new contracts in Africa. However we are interested and open to activities also in other parts of the world. For us, international expansion is an opportunity to broaden our experience and an important way to diversify our business, especially when we can take advantage of KUKE’s support.
Maciej Chamerski, CEO of Torhamer
We are covering a long-term credit that Wielton offers to foreign buyers for the purchase of its products. The total value of the two contracts is EUR 3.3 million. Being protected by KUKE relieves the Polish exporter of the risk of non-payment, and additionally, should the company wish to strengthen its liquidity, it can easily sell the insured receivables ahead of schedule and receive cash. We are talking with Wielton about insuring further sales to African markets, where the company has already built a very strong position - said Adam Grzybowski from the Insurance and International Cooperation Department at KUKE.
This is not the first Wielton contract of this type using solutions offered by KUKE. Last year, sales to Ivory Coast were also insured. Polish exports to this country, despite the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, increased last year by 58 percent, and to Mali by 49 percent. In the case of Africa as a whole, Poland recorded an increase of 2.2 percent.
We are increasingly active in Africa, which is being "discovered" by a growing group of Polish exporters. This month, we signed a cooperation agreement with the Islamic Investment and Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ICIEC), which includes Mali and Ivory Coast, to jointly participate in export and investment projects of Polish entrepreneurs in this region. In the near future, further attractive instruments supporting exporters and the banks financing them will be added to our offer - emphasised Adam Grzybowski.
Last year, sales of goods to African countries accounted for 1.2 percent of all Polish exports and their share in the portfolio of long-term transactions insured by KUKE is similar.
BGK is purchasing receivables under the export contract concluded by a Polish company, Wielton, and thus supports the delivery of 25 Wielton trailers to the Ivory Coast. Without the instruments offered by the Polish development bank, expansion into some markets would be impossible or very difficult.
"Africa is a difficult but promising market where the Wielton Group sees the potential for further development. Every year, Wielton Afryka, a company established in 2017 in the Ivory Coast, successively increases its sales, entering new markets and dynamically expanding its sales network. The company is also focused on developing products that meet the needs of the African market. It offers vehicles with a solid structure and high-quality of workmanship, which have an optimized curb weight which lowers the operating costs, e.g. by reducing fuel consumption. Wielton Afryka focuses its operations on introducing new products and improving their availability, by streamlining the supply and service chain for its clients. Besides a wide range of products, it also offers support tools to its clients, such as financing of acquisition projects, efficient after-sales service and professional consulting. Fulfilment of orders placed by large clients and leaders in the transport industry in the African market as part of export sales financing is possible because of co-operation with financial institutions of the Polish Development Fund (PFR) which support Polish exports, namely Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), which co-operates with Korporacja Ubezpieczeń Kredytów Eksportowych (KUKE). This assistance ensures safe transactions with the client and contributes to the actual development of Wielton Afryka", says Artur Pietrzak, Director of Wielton Africa.
Other companies see the potential for a similar development and increasingly more often export their products to the African market. The 2019 figures show an approximately 25% increase in trade. Currently, the share of Africa in total exports of Polish goods is about 1%.
"We support clients on another, seventieth market. For the past two years, we have helped our clients in seven African markets. Africa offers massive potential. This is the fifth export destination, following Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and a group of EU countries, for which enterprises want to obtain financial support for their transactions from BGK. One of our tasks is to strengthen the position of Poland and Polish companies abroad. Considering the development potential of Africa, we will certainly support and encourage enterprises to expand their presence on this continent. For exporters, co-operation with us means, among others, greater transaction security and economic profits in the form of lower transaction costs and ensured financial liquidity", says Karol Jakubaszek, Manager at the Transaction Banking Department of BGK.
KUKE and Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) also offer help in increasing exports to prospective though seemingly exotic markets. Contract insurance by KUKE, combined with financing obtained from a Polish development bank, provides exporters with a key instrument to expand into promising, albeit still risky, African markets.
"For years, we have been providing cover for transactions involving export of investment goods and fast-moving consumer goods to many countries on this continent. We try to be as active on those markets as export credit agencies from other countries that have been present there for decades. We are constantly expanding our offer to provide solutions tailored to the individual needs of Polish exporters. Besides classic insurance of receivables or credit, we provide packages of contract bonds and counter-guarantees, export pre-financing bonds, or bonds for payment of receivables related to letters of credit. We also offer insurance for direct investments abroad, which can be a great security for an acquisition loan. Despite the pandemic, our exporters continue to sell on African markets and we hope to quickly close the transactions which are currently being negotiated, which we are ready to cover", says Adam Grzybowski of the International Insurance and Co-operation Department of KUKE.
Through a network of foreign offices, PAIH is able to provide the necessary information about the market and provide assistance in proper preparation for export.
"Ivory Coast is the most diverse and fastest-growing economy in West Africa. It owes its strong position to a well-developed logistics infrastructure: an international airport, the second, after Lagos, largest port on the Atlantic coast, and a railway line connecting the country with other markets in the region. All this means that this market is more and more frequently perceived by European companies as a gateway to their development in West Africa", says Thomas Amari, PAIH Foreign Trade Office Manager in Abidjan.
KUKE, PAIH and BGK provide support to exporters and create an opportunity to better compete on international markets. This way, companies such as Wielton are able to expand their operations into new markets and increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of their export offers.