#13: Solar Power for Angola: Global Gateway, Team Germany & Rural Electrification

00:00:00: Export Echo, a podcast by Jula Hermes on the German government's export credit guarantees and topics relating

00:00:07: to international

00:00:08: export finance.

00:00:16: Welcome today's episode of Export Echo!

00:00:19: My name is Jennifer Löwen and I'm your host.

00:00:27: perfectly illustrates how international cooperation, sustainable development and export finance can come together to create impact on the ground.

00:00:37: Today we will discuss how MCA's ambitious solar project in Angola forms part of the European Union's global gateway strategy – The role of Team Germany and how Export Finance is supporting rural electrification.

00:00:55: We will also look at the opportunities these projects create for small and medium enterprises in Germany, and the importance of partnerships in delivering sustainable infrastructure solutions.

00:01:06: To help us better understand this fascinating project I'm delighted to welcome two excellent guests.

00:01:13: First of all, I would like to welcome Jenny Taler.

00:01:16: Jenny is director Southern Africa at the German Trade and Investment Agency GTAI And has been based in Johannesburg South Africa since twenty-twenty four.

00:01:28: with her extensive experience and knowledge Of The Region she has been supporting businesses To identify opportunities and grow In far away markets.

00:01:37: i'm also very pleased to Welcome Rodrigo Kostera.

00:01:41: Rodrigo is responsible for structured finance at the MCA Group.

00:01:46: MCA was founded in Portugal, and has since evolved into an international business platform active in areas such as energy urban development infrastructure health but I'm sure Rodrigo will better explain what MCA does today.

00:02:05: The company employs more than one thousand people across Europe and Africa, and plays an important role in delivering large-scale development projects.

00:02:13: Jenny Rodrigo thank you both for joining me today.

00:02:17: I'm very much looking forward to our discussion and learn about how solar energy is helping electrify Angola And what this project can teach us about international cooperation and export opportunities.

00:02:29: Let's get started!

00:02:32: Maybe to kick us off with a question what is global gateway and why it's relevant to German companies?

00:02:40: thank you Jennifer.

00:02:41: so global gateway is the European Union strategic investment initiative to strengthen sustainable entrusted partnerships around the world.

00:02:50: Infrastructure connectivity in industrial development projects.

00:02:54: It combines development, economic and geopolitical objectives under common European framework.

00:03:00: And focuses on areas such as energy transport digital infrastructure agriculture healthcare and critical raw materials.

00:03:09: The initiative was originally launched by the European Union with the objective of mobilizing three hundred billion euro in public and private investment By twenty-twenty seven.

00:03:21: This target was already reached ahead of schedule in twenty-twenty five, prompting the European Commission to raise its ambition toward more than four hundred billion euro investment by twenty twenty seven.

00:03:34: I think what's important now is that global gateway is not primarily a new funding instrument.

00:03:39: rather it brings together existing european national and development finance instruments under common framework making them more visible accessible better coordinated.

00:03:50: So for German companies, this creates easier access to project opportunities financing partners and risk mitigation instruments while providing a clear entry point into the broader team Europe ecosystem.

00:04:04: Many projects require exactly the technologies and expertise for which German companies are internationally recognized from infrastructure in industrial solutions two agro processing or critical raw material value chains.

00:04:17: And last but not least, Global Gateway also serves as an important strategic purpose.

00:04:23: Europe is already Africa's largest trading and investment partner – this isn't always reflected in the public debate.

00:04:29: So Global Gateway provides a common European label that makes Europe's contribution more visible and demonstrates that EU and its member states are investing in long-term partnerships across the continent?

00:04:41: Yeah!

00:04:42: That's right.

00:04:43: Global Gateway has really come a long way, and I can underline that it's of utmost importance.

00:04:49: Only beginning this year the German government launched its so-called National Investment Hub for global gateway as one of first EU member countries.

00:04:59: This means that now German companies, European companies have an access point where they can place their inquiries and demands for support when it comes to very concrete transactions.

00:05:13: That are of relevance to the global gateway agenda at The National Investment Hub.

00:05:18: It is then discussed if requested or inquired.

00:05:22: support by businesses Can already be mobilized as a national level by team Germany players or if further, EU support is needed.

00:05:31: This really underlines also that the German government is supporting Global Gateway and it's a supporting global gateway in the area of helping integrate European business interests into implementation on this strategy.

00:05:48: but I would be interested... Rodrigo when did you first learn about Global Gateway?

00:05:54: How did come across it?

00:05:55: Hello thank-you for having me!

00:05:57: Indeed, the Global Gateway has been some sort of a blessing to MCA Deutschland because we are implementing one of its flagship projects which is the Angolan Rural Electrification Programme.

00:06:12: A project that will be discussed here during this podcast episode.

00:06:17: This project was flagged as a global gateway project in twenty-twenty four if I recall correctly.

00:06:29: And since it has brought great visibility to the project, It has bought great political support and facilitated a lot of contact with relevant stakeholders.

00:06:44: so we have very positive experience from this branding that is associated with the Angolan rural electrification project.

00:06:53: And how do you see global gateway developing from your perspective as European business?

00:07:01: So, the Global Gateway in accordance to our experience has a stronger political statement and the activity of MCA in the Global South heavily based on infrastructure projects deployed for sovereigns.

00:07:25: So the opportunities that global gateway can bring to private sector are relevant in terms of letting companies know about existing project, existing plans.

00:07:41: local stakeholders do marketing exercises give us support locally to the EU offices and through other institutions.

00:07:53: So there are a number of political support actions that the global gateway can bring to private sector in order to facilitate their position, and deliverance in these countries?

00:08:09: Yeah no... That is really true.

00:08:12: As I said, there are lots of developments also happening since the MCA project in Angola became a flagship that under global gateway.

00:08:23: The EU really has put emphasis on the team nationals to organize themselves you know become a one-stop shop to their businesses and coordinate the different instruments from political support, coordinating also existing instrument such as export credits but in development finance base.

00:08:49: To support European business but of course developing partner countries.

00:08:58: Jenny, what has been GTAI's role in this and how do you see yourself acting on the global gateway agenda?

00:09:08: At Germany Trade & Invest our main role is to help German companies identify an access international business opportunities.

00:09:16: We monitor markets we analyze investment trends we track major projects Around the world and within the global gateway context we act both as an information provider in the facilitators.

00:09:30: So one, We help companies understand where opportunities exist which sectors are growing?

00:09:35: And how they can become involved in upcoming projects... ...we have also developed dedicated Global Gateway Information products because many companies still find their initiative difficult to navigate.. ..and unsure of access available support.

00:09:50: In addition and maybe most importantly you mentioned it already GTI was recently awarded the mandate to serve as that German global gateway investment hub on a national level.

00:10:02: On behalf of the government in together with our institutional partners.

00:10:07: this is the intersection between European Union, Businesses and the partners and it serves as a central entry point at national level where companies can submit project proposals receive guidance on suitable findings.

00:10:25: So the objective is really to make this system easier to navigate and ensure that companies can focus on developing projects rather than identifying the right institution.

00:10:34: To support them, we're actually already seeing considerable interest from companies for many countries but particularly four projects in Africa.

00:10:43: No that is right and i mean from my perspective as export credit guarantee scheme implemented by you know hermes also forms part of this global gateway investment hub.

00:10:54: This was actually how do I say the operationalization off team germany how would call it because here we, are as Team Germany consisting of GTII who is leading the hub together with the Export Credit Guarantee Scheme, DG, GIZ.

00:11:14: We're really coming to gather and discussing concrete transactions brought in by businesses seeing how we can support them together at one stop shop.

00:11:24: so I think this was a success also an invitation here for companies listening to the podcast, too.

00:11:33: Engage and let us know what their needs are?

00:11:36: I can also echo that Jennifer and Jenny, MCA has been present in a number of initiatives in African countries notably conferences this year And we were positively surprised by GIZ German institutions that supported MCA Deutschland in these conferences given the team Germany angle and their global gateway view to assist this companies in promoting their activities, European investment.

00:12:16: We have very concrete examples of this.

00:12:18: so it is with a good opinion I share.

00:12:24: No, thanks.

00:12:25: And I think there's really a momentum and it is good to hear that.

00:12:29: also your feedback from the business side... The momentum is reaching you because you are the target group of that?

00:12:39: Yes!

00:12:39: The project is actually very good example how complementary instruments can support project implementation and create visibility.

00:12:48: But this is a bit of a teaser.

00:12:50: So yeah, maybe let's move more towards the project example that we want to discuss in todays podcast but as starting point.

00:13:02: Rodrigo you can tell us what MCA does exactly?

00:13:08: What typical project for you looks like?

00:13:12: Okay so MCA is as explained at very beginning Portuguese based EPC company, it started out more than twenty-five years ago with Portugal.

00:13:22: It evolved into an European player with offices in many European countries Germany of course France the Netherlands Poland Spain and Portugal being obvious.

00:13:36: And also we had a very strong activity In Africa started in Portuguese speaking Africa mostly now with intent to set the strong footprint in the southern African region.

00:13:52: Angola is a natural market, Mozambique too I mean the Portuguese cultural ties through these countries are obvious and MCA has been implementing projects in the infrastructure sector for more than twenty five years.

00:14:10: just to give you a very quick overview of the group, so MCAS for business segments, infrastructures, urban development.

00:14:19: The health sector and energy sector.

00:14:23: we are currently implementing this flagship project under the Energy Sector umbrella in Angola And I can deep dive into it.

00:14:34: perfect.

00:14:35: Maybe you could explain a bit more the EPC structure, engineering procurement construction and why it is so important to implement large scale projects or why do governments of clients opt-to go for such a structure?

00:14:52: Of course!

00:14:53: So an EPC project is a project that contemplates of the project.

00:15:01: So it contemplates the engineering, all the development work that is done in the very beginning to set up uh the project you know in a complete manner The procurement so the sourcing Of all this technology and equipment In order to implement the project.

00:15:19: And finally the construction!

00:15:22: We wrap-up All the Project Engineering, Procurement & Construction and deliver turnkey to the end-client.

00:15:32: This ensures that from A to Z, the client has a project it wanted—the concept that was sold in the beginning.

00:15:44: The client insures.

00:15:45: this is delivered as envisaged.

00:15:49: In very large and complex projects these tend be less cumbersome because it allows for the whole project to be managed, developed and delivered with one single point of contact.

00:16:06: And how does the financing angle come in?

00:16:09: So basically... The client will seek an EPC structure in combination with financing or how does that typically go?

00:16:19: I mean we are discussing in this case financing with the CA support.

00:16:27: So we see a financing and here it is crucial that, In these very large projects you have the EPC angle With financing in mind because You always need content at end of day And when your talking about for instance an energy project or electrification project Or another type of project You need to develop the technology that will be delivered in accordance with content you can source from financing available for a given region.

00:17:01: Imagine an energy project fully renewable, with solar PV and battery storage.

00:17:08: There are different kinds of technologies in the battery storage space So if we define the battery-storage component as being a certain technology, you will only be able to source from certain regions.

00:17:24: If you define in the engineering phase another type of battery storage technology... ...you'll be able sources other regions.

00:17:33: so this means that we use DCA where the technology is available.

00:17:42: hence

00:17:42: why it's crucial to structure and to develop a project hand-in-hand with the financing angle that is envisaged for it, for the project itself.

00:17:55: And what role does the financing in such transaction play?

00:18:04: With regard to the competitiveness of the overall offer

00:18:07: if I understand correctly your question Is how attractive the financing is.

00:18:12: or a project of this type right?

00:18:14: yes

00:18:15: So in some of these markets, the global south.

00:18:19: The financing is not as widespread or available to other markets in Western world and regions.

00:18:28: Hence, financing plays a pivotal role to enable implementation on this project And usually if it's large infrastructure projects it plays even a more important role because there may be financing available, but not in very large ticket sizes or with large tenors that enable the repayment of the project in a manner that will also allow the infrastructure to play its role in developing the local economy.

00:19:04: So In this case I believe guarantees have for renewable energy projects was pivotal to make this project extremely attractive from a financing standpoint.

00:19:19: And now since we've been beating around the bush abit, really want talk about this flexure project already highlighted in the beginning.

00:19:29: The MCA Solar Project in Angola.

00:19:32: Maybe we can start with you telling us how the MCA Solar Project came about and what challenges and solutions that were found on the way.

00:19:43: Sure, happy to do this!

00:19:46: This project is a rural electrification... project.

00:19:50: But firstly, let me explain to you that Angola is a very vast country.

00:19:55: it's a huge country that is not heavily populated.

00:19:59: uh yeah It is very sparsely populated particularly for an African Country and hence the population Is more on the coastal in very large cities such as the capital city And other large cities In the coast.

00:20:15: And this means that the interior, the inner part of the country is not very well served in terms of infrastructure or energy.

00:20:25: The government had been trying for a number of years to electrify as much as possible.

00:20:31: there was huge investment in electrification and we were challenged to deliver solution to electrified sixty villages.

00:20:39: We started doing work hand-in-hand with governments.

00:20:42: Fourteen of these villages sat quite close to the existing grid.

00:20:47: So, this solution that was defined for those fourteen villages was to extend... ...the existing grid in each village.

00:20:55: The villagers built a low voltage network and installed meters into all houses of the communities And then on other forty-six villages.. ..the solutions were different.

00:21:08: It was to build solar PV generation systems, also install battery systems to provide energy when there is no electricity generation through solar PV.

00:21:21: So in the nighttime and then build a necessary medium voltage into low-voltage distribution network any stall meters in all consumption centers in these villages.

00:21:36: The challenges were immense.

00:21:37: I mean, the dimension of this project for you to understand it's sixty communities two hundred fifty thousand plus households and more than a million people covered.

00:21:48: so its very widespread spread in large projects And difficulties are all sorts.

00:21:55: there was no data.

00:21:56: This is most difficult element.

00:21:59: We didn't know how many people lived in each community, we did not have any houses there were.

00:22:13: But for instance softwares that exist to count the house are usually western software wrote or done to Western reality, and so they didn't recognize the

00:22:29: rules

00:22:31: of images.

00:22:32: So we had to count houses by hand!

00:22:37: All sorts of difficulties that you can imagine... We ended up counting all houses in the Sixty Communities.

00:22:44: We consulted data points from World Bank and other existing data to determine how many people live there.

00:22:51: We saw where they were health centers, whether or not health centers.

00:22:56: which communities were more agriculture?

00:22:58: Which ones are the industry?

00:23:00: what was their potential in these communities?

00:23:03: did then tailor energy consumption into this villages development that would have been years ahead and how the energy systems for each of those villages will look like?

00:23:17: After all this among us work has been done, we then needed to go these places without infrastructure and taking into account the rainy season.

00:23:27: Without cell phone coverage... I mean it's

00:23:31: an adventure!

00:23:35: It really helped.

00:23:36: MCA is present in Angola for more than twenty years.

00:23:39: they have more that a thousand people working on underground The reality of the country and knowledge that there is in Africa, this country also helped a lot for this project.

00:23:55: Maybe to add some kind data from our side... Jula Hermes through the export credit guarantee scheme supported that transaction I believe with a one point two billion cover which is one of the largest covers we have in sub-Saharan Africa.

00:24:13: And given the size also in terms of financials several banks has been involved, giving its nature it qualifies as green loan under the LMA Green Loan Principles.

00:24:25: and off course we insured compliance.

00:24:29: you insured complains with the equator principles and i've seen performance standard.

00:24:33: so just to give you a bit of.

00:24:36: The financial sizing yeah we also cooperated with other easy ace in this transaction.

00:24:43: terms of risk sharing too make it happen for mca info angola.

00:24:49: maybe follow up question because if your here solar project is not necessarily that u think about, German supplies, which rightly so you said in the beginning is a requirement for an ECA to become active and provide cover-and-enable export financing.

00:25:11: How did it go about that?

00:25:12: And what role does German suppliers play?

00:25:15: Of course!

00:25:17: It's quite an obvious one in terms of this sector... widespread known in Germany.

00:25:26: and then the strength that German has in energy sector.

00:25:29: And then solar, in particular is... The birth of solar is Germany so there's a strong traditional German solar suppliers.

00:25:39: So what we did at the very beginning was to partner with some technology suppliers in Germany, In order to develop this project and to structure it properly.

00:25:54: To have a German product so-to say... A german solution to deliver the government but not only in technology.

00:26:04: of course these are key suppliers because they're the enablers.

00:26:11: But we found all kinds of German suppliers for this project, I mean from CCTV to fences.

00:26:20: To raw materials such as steel for the structures that support solar panels cables energy cables supplied services such as engineering, services insurance package also done by Germany Insurance.

00:26:39: So how many sub suppliers did you have from Germany altogether?

00:26:43: We identified more than two hundred suppliers.

00:26:49: of course we ended up doing contracts with much less than this.

00:26:53: I mean four or five dozen of suppliers but go a very long way in order to get as much content possible and also create the competitive environment for transaction, so that we can do our best clients at the end.

00:27:11: So it's a positive experience I must say!

00:27:15: And this is why EPC structures are important.

00:27:22: I mean, at least also in Germany because they allow lots of small and medium enterprises who themselves would not be in the position to export directly.

00:27:33: In this case to Angola but to participate in such a transaction.

00:27:37: so therefore you MCA and other EPC players play an important role Also enabling indirect export from different countries.

00:27:51: That is certainly the case.

00:27:53: We opened a door to these new markets and we have seen, for instance one of our technology partners has now set up an authorized representative with another European partner it already had here in Europe in Angola.

00:28:11: so they now have one more authorized representative on one market.

00:28:20: are looking at other realities with those in other projects out of Germany.

00:28:26: So we see markets increasing for the SMEs, in Germany that participated in this project and it is a reality.

00:28:36: I mean such large-scale project in these markets that have...that are developing a lot to have number of these projects implemented near future.

00:28:47: it's an opportunity for them to be able to tag into these realities.

00:28:52: Yeah, that's true and I heard also this cooperation basically between the German ECA and MCA was a bit of team Germany story because i believe in order to qualify an office in Germany and was supported by GTAI.

00:29:21: Is that

00:29:35: correct?

00:29:41: a success story.

00:29:47: We are glad we did it, the office is in Eschborn as we have hired... Oh

00:29:53: next to GIZ also who's based

00:29:59: in Eschwern?

00:30:00: Yes so we started with the angle of deploying this project.

00:30:04: when you do procurement for a project that will have exports six or seven hundred million euros.

00:30:11: I mean, you want the best German procurement team in order to do these purchases?

00:30:16: So this was what we thought when were starting it.

00:30:21: but then all of those projects are global south and that is something which will go later on with our podcast.

00:30:27: they take some time for them so we opened an office where their project didn't start.

00:30:33: What did we do?

00:30:34: We started working other things in Germany because there's a lot of offices And currently, we are developing biomethane projects in Germany.

00:30:43: We also have bio-guest well and G-projects in Poland that we're constructing with offtake in Germany.

00:30:51: so... Interesting!

00:30:51: ...we've built

00:30:52: an activity in

00:30:52: Germany out of this project which was extremely interesting.

00:30:56: We set up a production line for another company from the MCA Group Ibergubal.

00:31:04: This has been an adventure

00:31:06: And you kept busy.

00:31:08: No, that's good and I mean Jenny also initially said a bit more about the trade side of GTI but there is an investment site in order to help MCA set up here in Germany.

00:31:26: It goes both ways.

00:31:27: so we support German companies with the export activities and then finding the right business opportunities abroad.

00:31:37: And we do that mainly through market intelligence briefings and communicating in sharing our information to a lot of different channels.

00:31:47: but i'm the other important part of our work is that you promote location, Germany as a country for investment, and we help international investors to set up business in Germany.

00:32:00: So our colleagues in Berlin really take the companies by their hand and help them identify right location to setup that business helped with all administrative legal processes work very closely together provincial investment promotion agencies and all other partners in the broader context

00:32:23: of

00:32:24: team Germany.

00:32:25: So I would say that, The Team Germany approach is really helping companies a lot to navigate all different offers we have from German side much better.

00:32:40: Yeah, there's a large support landscape that can sometimes appear complex and different institutions provide different services from market intelligence at networking to finances financing.

00:32:54: And team Germany the team Germany approach really aims to bringing all these services together in a coordinated way an I think it is what was needed for while.

00:33:04: yeah And I mean, we just had the Hamburg Sustainability Conference here in Hamburg where Jules Hermes is based.

00:33:13: We also signed mission statements amongst team Germany players committing ourselves and advancing this sometimes even change process within our own institutions to basically think beyond our individual silos and try to pass on the bouton, I would say speaking in pictures where we can really help as you said German businesses navigate this rather complex structure.

00:33:45: To be fair but yeah.

00:33:47: so just a quick excursion into Rodrigo, maybe to wrap up your experience.

00:33:58: I mean you said the challenges were enormous in terms of what you mentioned?

00:34:04: The size and location for this project, many suppliers involved with time frame.

00:34:11: it also took an order from the Angolan side to set everything up.

00:34:16: Financing was also so many players involved.

00:34:19: So really a good job getting this done.

00:34:23: And we're very happy to have played the part in here, but maybe you can share also what has MCA learned from The Project and where's the journey heading?

00:34:35: I

00:34:36: mean...the project is more than halfway through.

00:34:42: Fortunately, we have had the opportunity of commencing and operating some of these systems.

00:34:48: We had two inaugurations this year who will have much more throughout until the end of the year.

00:34:55: then project should be fully implemented till the end.

00:35:02: very good news given all the challenges that are entailed in a project of these.

00:35:09: magnetism as you correctly pointed out.

00:35:14: Lessons learned, I mean various or lot but i would say most important is structure, so you need to plan For this in the very first day.

00:35:30: The risks that you imagine That can happen will have because these are projects that take a long time to be implemented.

00:35:39: So, yeah You need to cater for all the risks and how will you go about them?

00:35:46: so In terms of implementation This will take more time than do think in the first state.

00:35:51: what impact we'll have this?

00:35:55: Your supply chain in your raw material purchase, In your currency hedging and the relationship with insurance companies.

00:36:04: With transportation companies.

00:36:06: I mean you need to contemplate all these scenarios at very beginning And try to mitigate them so that implementation of project doesn't get undermined or jeopardized by the materialization of this risks.

00:36:22: I think this is the best lesson that we can take off.

00:36:28: Of course, We have anticipated a number of issues that came up during implementation and others were not anticipated but thankfully The planning was very well-made in the structuring too And we had good partners in the syndicator banks that are assisting us In Ilar Hermes and in the people, in the teams that were involved with this project.

00:36:55: Constant dialogue is also key for it to be implemented smoothly And I think overall we have a very successful experience.

00:37:05: Thank you both of you For your assistance at the cooperation since day one.

00:37:10: No, no... In terms of risk planning and mapping.

00:37:17: I mean, this is what we share also in common as an export credit agency obviously trying to map out the economic risk of political risks and assess how can we mitigate them?

00:37:31: How do you cooperate with them?

00:37:32: so that's something which yeah no agreed.

00:37:35: Jenny In terms your perspective being based in Johannesburg What kind What does the project send in the region and where do you see further opportunities?

00:37:48: I think that MCA Project sends a very positive, powerful message because it shows large scale renewable energy projects can be successfully implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa even challenging environments.

00:38:02: It also demonstrates international partnerships combining local ambition European financing and German technology very tangible results for communities and for economies.

00:38:16: And hopefully, investors' projects like this increase confidence because they proved that complex infrastructure investments can be executed successfully and sustainably.

00:38:28: So it provides a practical example of what can be achieved through long-term planning and strong partnerships.

00:38:35: It definitely serves as flagship project for future renewable energy investments across the region in many ways.

00:38:44: So, opportunities that I see across Africa are significant and very diverse.

00:38:52: We have growing populations, rapid urbanization in many countries and industrial development.

00:38:59: These are just a few of many factors driving demand for investment infrastructure energy transport water agriculture but also digital solutions.

00:39:10: Of course renewable energy remains one of the most exciting sectors.

00:39:15: there's lot happening in this sector in many country But we also see strong potential in transport and logistics infrastructure, including ports rail and trade corridors as well.

00:39:29: This water infrastructure electricity transmission grid modernization etc.

00:39:35: Also food security an agro processing are becoming increasingly important because many African countries are looking to move up the value chain by expanding local processing capacity, improving agricultural productivity and also by that reducing dependence on imported food products.

00:39:54: In addition very important critical raw materials and minerals processing is an area that is attracting growing attention.

00:40:04: A lot of countries across the region are seeking to move beyond the export of raw materials and develop local value addition in sectors such as battery minerals or strategic metals.

00:40:18: And there's a lot other opportunities, of course, in sectors like healthcare vocational training industrial development in general.

00:40:27: They're all priorities under global gateway strategies.

00:40:30: so that is quite exciting for companies

00:40:33: too.

00:40:34: Yeah it is and I mean there are big challenges, the projects take long to develop at times.

00:40:42: And of course financing as Rodrigo said initially its often crucial factor because that's what brings projects to life, you need to secure the financing and that's then again where ECA is.

00:40:55: And export credit guarantees can play a role in order to mitigate risk for financial institutions and banks providing the loans.

00:41:06: so I think we are very much open.

00:41:09: as an example which was discussed in Angola has shown businesses entering and expanding on the African continent with many opportunities that they are, our export credit guarantees can help to extend the tenors of financing which is also very important aspect in order for governments if it's a public sector project.

00:41:44: As well as achieve more attractive financing conditions due to the in our case triple A rating of the German government, which will allow you reduce the financing costs.

00:41:56: So I think we can all come together and make similar projects happen hopefully.

00:42:04: And with that, I would like to really thank you a lot for your time and openness in today's podcast.

00:42:12: And wishing you all the best of luck Rodrigo!

00:42:15: To bring this Angola MCA project to success at the end of twenty-twenty seven... ...and always here to engage on new opportunities.. ..and continue the success story.

00:42:29: And also Jenny, I mean we are in touch on a weekly basis.

00:42:33: So yeah very glad to further build on this Team Germany effort that we have embarked on.

00:42:41: Thank

00:42:41: you Jennifer!

00:42:43: Thanks

00:42:44: for the opportunity and thanks Rodrigo.

00:42:47: i've been in touch with your colleagues as well about the MCA project because we featured it Aswell our reporting.

00:42:55: so its great too to catch up and hear more about what you're doing.

00:42:59: Thank You, it's a pleasure!

00:43:00: And just to finalize we would like to thank formally to the team Germany for all their support that they have been receiving since twenty-twenty four... ...and has helped us foster our activity in Africa.

00:43:17: so thankyou very much.

00:43:23: This was Export Echo, a podcast by Jula Hermes.

00:43:27: You can find further information about the discussion in this episode here

00:43:30: on The Show Notes.

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