India's Eximbank to loan government $176.3 mln - Ivorian PM

folarin okunola

June 16, 2016 4:05 PM

The loan was announced during a visit by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee to the world's top cocoa and cashew producer, which issued two Eurobonds totalling $1.75 billion in 2014 and 2015.

Ivory Coast Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan smiles after the annoucement of the new government at the presidential palace in Abidjan January 12, 2016. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

India's Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) will issue a $176.3 million loan to Ivory Coast for public works initiatives, including projects in construction and information technology, Ivorian Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan said on Wednesday.

India is also expecting to open an Eximbank office in Ivory Coast this year, Duncan said.

"The return of Eximbank India constitutes a significant advantage for the consolidation of this already excellent partnership," said Duncan, who added that the bank had left during his West African country's decade-long political crisis that ended in 2011.

Trade between India and Ivory Coast rose from 221 billion CFA francs ($378.66 million) in 2010 to 513 billion CFA francs ($878.97 million) last year, an increase of 132 percent in five years, according to Duncan.

French-speaking West Africa's largest economy is one of its fastest growing, with GDP growth expected to be 8.5 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

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