Welcome to EKN Magazine. We provide inspiration and offer tips for companies and banks that work with exports or have just begun that journey out in the world.
Attractive financing helps Angola harness the power of the sun in a 370MW solar project with substantial Swedish deliveries by Hitachi ABB Powergrids to electrify rural areas and help combat climate change.
Largest ever sub-Saharan solar project
EKN implements new guidelines to further emphasize its commitment to sustainability and positive climate impact, while phasing out its support of fossil-based ventures.
Why sustainability means good business
When passenger and goods traffic tumbled in the wake of Covid-19, Swedish shipping group Stena turned to EKN to secure access to liquidity. “The working capital credit guarantee is a good mechanism.”
New facility shored up shipping giant
As the countries of East and Southeast Asia are successful in reducing the spread of Covid-19, Swedish exports bounce back, notes EKN Chief Analyst Stefan Karlsson in a fresh report.
Swedish exports to East Asia set to recover
A new railroad with high-speed trains is connecting the coast of Tanzania to the centre of the country. Attractive financing and a comprehensive sustainability and environmental agenda render the multi-billion dollar project a showcase to the entire continent. Here’s how.
Fastest railway in East Africa
Proactivity in shaping new credit guarantees proved valuable to appliance maker Electrolux during the Covid-19 crisis: “EKN’s support enabled us to strengthen our liquidity position.”
Securing liquidity in times of uncertainty
At a time when exports are predicted to fall off a cliff, even large corporates may need financial reassurance when planning for an unpredictable future. When EKN introduced a battery of new support measures, the response was overwhelming: “The phones wouldn’t stop ringing,” says Marie Aglert, Head of Large Corporates at EKN.
New measures to bolster exports
Financing large infrastructure projects that require imported goods to be paid for in hard currency can be a challenge to developing countries, where such investments often exceed the risk appetite as well as the balance sheet of local financial institutions. Structured financing and a creative approach, however, permits funding in local currency with longer tenors and lower financing costs – plus the added benefit of risk cover from EKN.
Local currency financing lifts exports
The Covid-19 crisis has placed Swedish medtech company Getinge in an unusual spot. While demand for its life-sustaining ventilators have increased at a record pace, the global production chains are stalling. Here’s how Getinge managed to step up its global production, secure increased financing – and reopen a shutdown plant in Malaysia.
In the eye of the storm
As the hub of one of the world’s fastest growing economies, Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire needed a modern, sustainable public transport system to boost urban mobility and support the job market. Leveraging the coordinated know-how of Team Sweden, Scania landed a BRT contract that includes buses that run on banana peels.
Scania and Team Sweden sets Abidjan in motion
The value of a product is not just created in the manufacturing stage – research and development, as well as marketing and design, are also crucial components in today's increasingly globalized value chains.
Smiling curve shows how value is created
Leveraging digital technologies, a team of Swedish suppliers have united in developing a new standard for sustainable underground mining, capable of turning an entire industry into a carbon-free, safe workplace where robots do the dirty work.
Setting a new standard for sustainable mining
A successful transformation of the energy sector needs flexible solutions that allow fossil fuels to be phased out at a rapid pace while still securing affordable energy to the rapidly growing world population.
Siemens outlines roadmap for a journey towards greener energy
The MENA region accounts for a diminishing share of the world’s oil production, while the overall importance of oil is reduced in the wake of an increase in the production of renewable energy. The consequences to the countries of the MENA region will be felt throughout the world, according to Victor Carstenius, analyst at EKN.
Energy transformation affects the MENA region
Efficient public transport is instrumental to sustainable urbanization. The concept of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been particularly successful in Latin America, where Volvo has been contracted to deliver 700 purpose-built buses to Colombia’s capital Bogotá in one of the largest-ever bus deals in Latin America. Local-currency financing backed by EKN made it possible.
EKN backs financing of Bus Rapid Transit system in Bogota