All the national oil companies (NOCs) in sub-Saharan Africa rely on external loans, to some degree, to finance their operations and invest in new projects. While Africa's emerging class of smaller independents struggles for funding, the bigger NOCs are still able to secure credit lines from large international banks, African lenders and large commodity traders. Such deals are still common, although fewer Western and Chinese banks have been involved in recent years as more regional players step in. Most notable among those is the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which has concluded a series of loan deals with African oil producers — NOCs and independents alike. Added to the mix are the trading firms, including Vitol, Trafigura and Gunvor, which between them have loaned several billion dollars to NOCs in Gabon, Uganda and the Republic of Congo over the years.