More details emerge on GuarantCo, SocGen XOF37.8bn loan in Benin and Togo

GuarantCo has provided a 70% partial credit guarantee on Societe Generale’s XOF37.8 billion ($63 million) borrowing base for Spiro’s EV bike fleet in the two firms’ third – and fastest yet – partnership.

The loan will support the financing of Spiro’s fleet of electric motorbikes as well as the associated batteries and swap stations in Benin and Togo. For business and operational purposes, the loan has been sliced into two tranches of XOF21 billion ($35 million) and XOF16.8 billion ($27.9 million). The loan has a medium-term length which was confirmed as fitting the economic life and payback period of Spiro’s assets.

Deal origination was relatively quick in comparison to GuarantCo’s typical deal lengths which can last two-three years due to the complexity of deal structuration and due diligence requirements. A source close to the project confirmed that the transaction was one of the quickest they had ever worked on at the DFI – a result of the relationship the two firm’s have built from past projects including the GreenYellow solar park in Madagascar and the toll plaza IPP in Cameroon.

There are already several more partnership projects in the pipeline in countries where Societe Generale is active. This latest deal has shown that the DFI is capable of delivering replicability as well as innovation, and speeding up its structuration time.