UAE, UK collaborate on Dhs540m emergency response project in Senegal

UAE, UK collaborate on Dhs540m emergency response project in Senegal

UAE’s Federal export credit company Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) and the UK Export Finance (UKEF) announced a joint project in Senegal to strengthen its national emergency response infrastructure. The project, called the Redco Project Senegal, will cater to emergency services like fire fighting vehicles, rescue vehicles, ambulances, rescue boats, water trailers, cranes with cargo trucks and other safety equipment in Senegal. The project, worth Dhs540m is funded by Standard Chartered Bank along with partial direct lending by UKEF. Both companies have provided guarantees for the loan obtained by the Senegal Ministry of Economy, Planning and Cooperation and is backed with ECI’s participation worth Dhs334m. The emergency services equipment will be provided by NAFFCO, a UAE-based manufacturer and exporter of firefighting products and fire protection engineering. ECI’s trade finance support comes as a response to UAE’s Africa initiative and Senegal’s call for aid to enhance and strengthen its firefighting and emergency response capabilities. Recently, the UAE sent a plane of emergency medical supplies to Senegal to mitigate the damage after the neonatal department at the Dabakh Hospital in the city of Tifwani, caught on fire. Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade and deputy chairman of