By Gitahi Ngunyi
@gitahi_ngunyi
African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) has secured US$350 million to support big impact projects by private sector in the continent.
In a press release announcing the new funding, AFREXIMBANK said the arrangements for the funding were concluded on the sidelines of the recently concluded 2024 Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Annual Meetings and Golden Jubilee Celebrations with two agencies.
The first agreement was for a facility of US$250 million with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and the second agreement for a facility of US$100 million with the Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD) in support of trade and projects in Africa.
The lines of financing expected from ICD would strengthen the Bank’s capacity and reinforce its intervention in the private sector, particularly for enterprises with substantial development impact in ICD and Afreximbank’s Member States.
The facility from ITFC on the other hand, will provide Compliant Syndicated trade financing line thereby complementing the Bank’s trade finance offerings to its clients.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Afreximbank President and Board Chairman Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah thanked Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol and the entire team at ITFC and ICD for continued partnership with the bank Afreximbank.
“The arrangements we have entered into today with the two institutions will go a long way in supporting Afreximbank in addressing the funding and structural challenges that stand in the way of Africa’s integration agenda,” he added.
The collective support from ITFC and ICD will also allow the AFREXIMBANK to deliver on its continental mandate of fostering industrialization, developing exports and full implementation of the African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
As partners of the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Programme, Afreximbank, ITFC and ICD are committed to promoting south-to-south trade among African and Arab countries for a common goal of advancing socio-economic prosperity and building sustainable trade and development across the regions.
AFREXIMBANK is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance, facilitate and promote intra and extra-African trade. A key supporter of the AfCFTA, the bank has in partnership with the African Union Commission and AFCFTA Secretariat launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement.
The AFCFTA Secretariat and the Bank have created a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA.
At the end of December 2023, AFREXIMBANK’s total assets and guarantees stood at US$ 37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$ 6.1 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$104 billion between 2016 and 2023 through various interventions for the advancement of the continent.
Over its 30 years of existence, AFREXIMBANK has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”).
