Court of Appeal upholds foreign jurisdiction clause and lender’s right to repayment in dollars in $25million dispute between AFREXIM and Patnasonic Industries - Businessday NG

The Court of Appeal has, in a judgment delivered on July 8, 2026, allowed the Appeal in the case of African Export-Import Bank (“AFREXIM”) v Patnasonic in a dispute over the repayment of a USD 25,000,000 (Twenty-Five Million United States Dollars) facility.

The dispute arose from a receivables-backed dollar facility of up to USD 25,000,000 (Twenty-Five Million United States Dollars) granted by AFREXIM to Patnasonic Industries Limited under a Loan Agreement in 2012, with Sterling Bank Plc as local administration agent. Following AFREXIM’s demands that Patnasonic repay the outstanding debt in US Dollars rather than Naira, Patnasonic and its Chairman, Chief Patrick Chidolue, sued at the High Court of Lagos State. The court, on June 25, 2024, found in their favour and dismissed AFREXIM’s preliminary objections. AFREXIM appealed, and Sterling Bank filed a related appeal of its own.

In a well-considered judgment, the Court of Appeal agreed with the submissions of Lead Counsel for AFREXIM, Onyemauche Ibezim of KENNA, who argued the appeal and resolved all six issues in AFREXIM’s favour. The Court in resolving the issues on jurisdiction held that the parties were bound by their freely negotiated agreement conferring jurisdiction on the English courts; that AFREXIM enjoyed diplomatic immunity as an international financial institution; and that the initial suit filed by Patnasonic was statute-barred.