Also in the news...
Prove your English language abilities with a secure English language test (SELT)
For visa or citizenship applications, you may need to prove your knowledge of English by passing a secure English language test (SELT).
UK and Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership arrangement
The Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) sets out the UK and Nigeria’s priorities for future discussion and cooperation.
Export to the UK: guidance for African businesses
Find out about UK markets and sectors, trade agreements, UK import regulations and taxes, and support for African businesses from the UK government.
Guidance Start exporting to Africa
Find out about market opportunities, trade partnership agreements, support from the UK government, and export regulations and taxes in African countries.
Guidance Start investing in African businesses
Find out about investment opportunities and support from the UK government. Learn how to manage risk, invest ethically, and access guidance on African countries.
Chancellor uses trade trip to Brazil to hail further finance support to back British exporters
At the start of a three day trade trip to Brazil, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon George Osborne MP, announced the next stage in the government’s fundamental overhaul of finance for British exporters.
The Budget announced expansion of public-sector direct lending; today the Bank of England announced plans to support expansion of private sector lending for exporters. These measures will move the UK to the top of the global league for export support.
In a speech to business leaders in Rio de Janeiro, the Chancellor:
- announced, following discussions with the Governor, a significant step to increase availability and cut the cost of private-sector lending for exporters, and welcomed the Bank of England giving finance guaranteed by UK Export Finance (UKEF) access to its Sterling Monetary Framework facility, to help make such lending less risky
- confirmed a doubling in size of the UKEF direct publicly-financed lending facility for exporters to £3 billion and the cutting of its interest rates by a third