Three companies to provide equipment financing

Under the partnership, Standard Bank would make available financing to Cat Financial to provide a range of financial services to Mantrac, which also trades as Unatrac, Caterpillar dealerships in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Sierra Leone.

“The concept of a manufacturer backed finance scheme for equipment is a very important development for the Ghanaian economy, this development moves the game on for our customers by offering more flexible payment terms to meet customer needs,” the Managing Director of Caterpillar sole distributors, MANTRAC Ghana, Mr Bill Haxworth, said at the launch of the partnership in Accra today.

Under the arrangement, Cat Financial Services and Stanbic Bank will position their men at Caterpillar to assess and take on board any financial needs to purchase equipment.

Currently, Standard Bank/Stanbic has approved a total of $8 million equipment finance out of a pipeline of $10 million, with a tall request of $60 million still pending.

The Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Mr Alhassan Andani, explained to the Daily Graphic that the country spent about $175 million to import earth moving equipment alone, with Caterpillar/Mantrac controlling about 60 per cent of the market share.

Mr Andani said Standard Bank and its local subsidiaries would play the critical role of understanding the risks in order to mitigate them so that the client would have consistent financial flow, adding tat under the collaboration equipment purchasers could move the machines across borders where Cat Finance operated to generate more cash flow.

The Deputy Group Chief Executive of Standard Bank, Mr Ben Kruger, expressed delight at the financial collaboration, saying it would help the bank’s customers to get access to quality equipment for the operations at sustainable financial options.

“Through this collaboration with Mantrac and Cat Finance we hope to contribute to the growth we see in our markets and we are confident that this partnership will travel a long way,” Mr Kruger said, adding “our aim is to support the dealer network in the sale of high quality construction equipment.”

Story by Samuel Doe Ablordeppey