AQUILA CAPITAL SECURES $5M FACILITY

The group has secured a further $5m in Long-term debt financing for its leasing subsidiary, Aquila Leasing Limited, from Belgian Investment Organisation (BIO) based in Brussel. Aquila Capital said in a statement that the Belgian Investment Organisation (BIO) chronicled its investment in Aquila Leasing among others, of $5m for a period of 5 years via a Long-term loan for on-lending/leasing to SME's.

BIO is a Development Finance Institution (DFI) owned by the Belgian Government and private institutions and aims at supporting SME's through the Banking sector and Financial Institutions especially in developing countries. BIO's commitments to funding projects currently stand at about €203million with that cut across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The Aquila Capital group has continued to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country in general and the Leasing sector in particular despite the environment.

AQUILA LEASING SEALED A $10M DEAL WITH FMO

The group recently secured and have drawn-down on a $10m 5 year dual currency loan from the Netherlands Development Financing Bank (FMO) to provide leasing services to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) in Nigeria.

This deal opens a new funding window for SMEs in the country, which have been having difficulty realizing their potentials due to lack of funds. The collaboration between Aquila and FMO is another milestone achievement for both parties.

In December 2007, Aquila received an Equity Investment from the Tunis-based private equity firm Africinvest, and concluded its Euro denominated bond offering.