• £42 million UK Export Finance guarantee enables Mabey Bridge to export 87 emergency bridges to areas impacted by flooding across Ghana
• The business will manufacture the bridges in their factory in Gloucestershire and train local engineers in Ghana to install them in future
• The latest deal comes as UKEF announces its support for markets in Africa has reached a 20-year high, providing over £2.3bn in 2020-21

A Gloucestershire-based manufacturer has secured a contract to provide 87 emergency bridges for use in flood-hit areas across Ghana following a £42 million guarantee from UK Export Finance (UKEF), as the UK prepares to host the 3rd Africa Investment Conference today.

The UK government is seeking to boost major investment into Africa at the Conference by helping buyers and project sponsors on the continent access long-term finance from the UK’s export credit agency, UKEF. The UK agency can help foreign countries with finance, loans and insurance to make their projects happen, if they commit to sourcing goods and services from the UK.

UKEF’s financing for projects in Africa has significantly increased from c. £600 million in 2018-2019 to over £2.3 billion in 2020-21 – the highest amount since 2000. This has included $280 million to finance six new hospitals across the Côte d’Ivoire, and £1.2 billion to support the construction of two electric monorails in Egypt.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Secretary of State for International Trade and UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency, said:

This is a prime example of an innovative UK business using its expertise to help countries adapt to climate change. This programme will help mitigate potentially catastrophic flood damage – simultaneously supporting economic growth by protecting connectivity for communities across Ghana.

The UK is committed to supporting a safer, greener, more open continent that is more resilient to shocks and stresses – using trading relationships and investment to deliver sustainable growth.

Mabey Bridge will design, manufacture and export the essential infrastructure from their factory in Lydney to Ghana. They will also be providing training to the Ghanaian government and local engineers on how to install them, providing the expertise to enable future construction.

Ghana’s coastline spans approximately 340 miles, with a quarter of its population living by the sea, and the country is badly affected by coastal erosion. High levels of rainfall have also destroyed bridges in its towns, cutting off access.

The new bridge programme has been developed by the Government of Ghana’s Ministry of Roads and Highways as part of its strategy to improve connectivity for rural communities post-disaster. This will enable quicker, safer and more efficient access to employment, education and healthcare.

Mabey Bridge has supplied modular steel bridges to rural and urban areas in more than 150 countries worldwide and has often responded to natural disasters, with its bridges rapidly deployed within days or weeks. Working closely with national governments and NGOs, they have worked in countries in North and South America, Asia, Europe, Caribbean, Australia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Michael Treacy, CEO, Mabey Bridge, said:

Sustainable, climate-resilient infrastructure is critically important to post-disaster recovery and development. The financing from UK Export Finance will enable us to successfully deliver this ambitious programme, in partnership with the Ghanaian government.

The financing structure involves UKEF providing a Buyer Credit Guarantee worth £42 million on loans to the Ghanaian Government to finance the project, with a Commercial Facility of £6.5 million provided by Standard Chartered Bank. The deal will be structured on a project finance basis and raised through Standard Chartered Bank as acting lead arranger and lender supported by the UKEF guarantee.

Desislava Radeva, Director, Structured Export Finance, Standard Chartered Bank, said:

We are extremely proud to reinforce our position as a reliable bank of choice to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Ghana and to enhance our collaboration with UKEF by delivering this important financing.

About UK Export Finance

UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency and a government department, working along-side the Department for International Trade as an integral part of its strategy and operations.

Established in 1919, it exists to ensure that no viable UK export should fail for a lack of finance from the private market. It provides finance and insurance to help exporters win, fulfil and get paid for export contracts.

About Mabey Bridge

Mabey Bridge is a leading international provider of high-quality modular steel bridging solutions. It specialises in rapid-build, pre-engineered modular steel bridges for enable accelerated bridge construction in urban and rural areas. It also delivers bridging solutions for the construction, oil and gas, and mining sectors as well as for specialist military applications, humanitarian emergencies and disaster relief.

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A new government service to hold building owners to account for remediation works has been launched today (20 January 2022).

Under the new Leaseholder and Resident Service, those living in tower blocks will have access to updates on the status of their building’s application to the government’s Building Safety Fund. This will help leaseholders to understand where their building is in the process.

The tailored service is designed to speed up the process of removing unsafe non-ACM cladding from the highest risk buildings, forcing building owners to be more transparent, and exposing those who have failed to take action to make their buildings safe.

This is just one of a number of steps announced by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities this month to apply pressure on industry and protect leaseholders from unnecessary costs and delays.

Minister of State for Building Safety and Fire, Lord Greenhalgh said:

It is unacceptable that four years after the Grenfell tragedy innocent leaseholders are still living in buildings with unsafe cladding.

Building owners are responsible for making their building’s safe, and we will no longer allow them to shirk from their duties and hide behind processes and corporate loopholes.

Everyone – including leaseholders – has a right to know what is happening with their building and to live safely. Today’s launch is a key step in providing them with both the service and the peace of mind that they deserve.

In his landmark Building Safety reset on 10 January, the Secretary of State announced that leaseholders would no longer pay for the fixing of unsafe cladding, with building owners and industry footing the bill instead.

While the majority of building owners are already engaged with the Building Safety Fund, a £5.1 billion fund targeted at remediating unsafe non-ACM cladding on residential buildings 18m and over, a minority have yet to come forward and provide building information, leading to unnecessary delays and costs for innocent leaseholders.

Under this new service, a unique code will enable leaseholders and residents to track the progress of their building’s application through an online service, with information updated monthly. This will enable leaseholders to keep track of their building’s application and help apply pressure on their building owners if action is needed.

Leaseholders will receive a unique code from their building owners and are encouraged to contact owners if they do not receive their code, or if they have any further queries on the status of their building’s application. Many residents will also receive their codes directly from government.

To maintain the pace of building remediation and ensure the Building Safety Fund is further targeted at the highest risk buildings, the Secretary of State is currently reviewing the wider programme ahead of the next phase of funding, expected early this year.

Geeta Nanda OBE, G15 Chair and Chief Executive of MTVH, said:

Ensuring residents affected by building safety issues are kept up to date with information, including with regards to Building Safety Fund applications, is essential. G15 members have set up dedicated teams to support residents affected by building safety issues and provide regular updates on progress being made. We welcome the new Building Safety Fund online portal, which will help ensure that the information being provided to residents on this critical funding support is as accurate and up to date as possible.

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, says:

Greater transparency over the progress of Building Safety Fund applications is a positive move, providing welcome information to residents in buildings across the country who have been living with uncertainty about their safety and their future.

Housing associations are committed to working with the government to tackle the building safety crisis and support all efforts to protect leaseholders from costs.

On behalf of the United Kingdom, I would like to welcome you back to the Permanent Council Madam President, and I thank you for your address.

We are at a critical time for Euro-Atlantic security. The OSCE with its 57 participating States offers a wide reaching forum which enables us to ensure that there is an inclusive discussion.

All participating States at the OSCE have an important role to play, including as you note the vital role of parliamentarians, to speak up when principles of international law and the Helsinki Final Act are violated. We must all defend robustly the principles and commitments to which we freely signed up and which are the bedrock of our shared security. We need to work together to uphold the non-use of force and respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and human rights and fundamental freedoms. This is especially important now, more than ever. The UK strongly welcomes the clear role of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) in this regard, including as you highlight the PA’s repeated condemnation of Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Madam President,

OSCE priorities and commitments across all dimensions need to be realised and implemented in partnership with parliamentarians. Parliamentary diplomacy and the role parliamentarians play in holding us to account is an important element of the work we do throughout the OSCE area. The PA can remind states of what is needed in areas ranging from human rights and support for democratic institutions to sharing knowledge and expertise on security challenges and military transparency. And through election observation and the sharing of experience of rule of law and the checks and balances which strengthen accountability of democratic institutions. I would like to thank the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and its members for efforts in this regard and encourage these to continue.

We also share your views on the importance of the work the OSCE does to support women including through a focus on Women, Peace and Security. It is important to ensure that women have full, equal and meaningful participation in peace processes. The role of the OSCE can be boosted as we embed this in the organisation’s efforts.

In conclusion – we welcome and support the important role the Parliamentary Assembly plays within the OSCE area. We look forward to welcoming the Assembly to Birmingham in July and we look forward to even greater co-operation and collaboration between the parliamentary and intergovernmental parts of the OSCE over the coming year as we collectively work to address the numerous challenges and opportunities facing our collective security.

Published 19 January 2022
Last updated 19 March 2022 + show all updates