Export Credit & Buyer Credit for Cross-Border Industrial Deals
How ECA-backed export credit and buyer credit actually work — and why they often decide who wins a cross-border tender.
Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) exist to help their country's exporters win international business. On a cross-border industrial deal, ECA cover is often the difference between a bankable offer and one no lender will touch.
Supplier credit — the exporter extends payment terms to the buyer and refinances them with an ECA-backed loan in their home country.
Buyer credit — a bank in the exporter's country lends directly to the buyer (or the buyer's bank), guaranteed by the ECA. The exporter is paid on shipment.
Typical structure. Down payment (usually 15%), ECA-covered loan (up to 85%), OECD-consensus tenor (often five to ten years), fixed or floating interest.
What lenders look for. A clean commercial contract, credible completion timeline, credible off-take or revenue plan, and clear performance guarantees from the supplier.
For most industrial buyers in emerging markets, buyer credit is the cheapest hard-currency capital they will ever access. It is worth designing the tender around it from day one.
Frequently asked
SACE (Italy), Euler Hermes (Germany), Bpifrance Assurance Export (France), UKEF (UK), EDC (Canada), Sinosure (China) and US EXIM are all frequent players, each with different country and sector limits.