Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company, has entered into a historic collaboration with Israel Export Insurance Corp. Ltd. (ASHRA) to form the first Public-Private Partnership project between the UAE and Israel after the signing of the historic Abraham Accords in September 2020.
The deal will provide buyer’s credit guarantees to the funding bank for Ghana’s AED 540 million (EUR 140 million) healthcare project.
The project envisages the construction of four hospitals and the first main central medical storage facility in the country.
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.
On the sidelines of this momentous ceremony, both export credit agencies discussed with IDB for further future collaboration in order to help the UAE and Israeli companies win more joint international projects.
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 Ministry of Health (MOH) in Ghana will construct these facilities to meet the growing healthcare requirements of the country as the country’s Capital Investment Programme of the MOH for the years 2016-2020 underscored the urgent necessity of improving the healthcare sector in the country.
Also published on Medium.
