The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced that the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), its development impact-oriented subsidiary, has entered into a Joint Venture arrangement with Gateway Partners (Gateway) to co-establish the Africa Credit Opportunities Fund (ACOF).
This partnership is the first of its kind between an African Development Finance Institution and an alternative investment manager.
According to Afreximbank, the partnership is purposed to strengthen its support for the continent by enhancing the Bank’s scope of intervention beyond its traditional trade finance products.
Professor Benedict Oramah, the President of Afreximbank, stated that “we are pleased to partner with Gateway to establish the ACOF”.
“This fund, which we [Afreximbank] are supporting with a significant capital commitment, allows us to scale the Bank’s impact and offer new products and solutions to existing and new customers.”
Professor Benedict Oramah
To this end, Prof. Oramah invited other partners, investors, and development finance institutions, within and outside Africa, to participate in this attractive and needed initiative.
“We [Afreximbank] are very excited that our newly created initiative, FEDA, has enabled us to create new partnerships such as this one with Gateway.
“In addition to FEDA’s primary investment activities, this will further position FEDA as a leading player in the investment landscape across Africa.”
Professor Benedict Oramah
On his part, Mr. Viswanathan Shankar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gateway disclosed that, “Gateway Partners is delighted to partner with FEDA in this transformational endeavour”.
“The demand for credit across the continent is set to surge, while the supply side remains constrained.
“ACOF will attempt to bridge this gap in a responsible, impactful and sustainable manner while boosting trade and investment flows.”
Mr. Viswanathan Shankar
Leveraging on the Africa Credit Opportunities Fund
The ACOF is a unique platform that brings together the institutional expertise and relationships of Afreximbank and Gateway to provide much-needed financing solutions to businesses across Africa.
As disclosed by the Bank, ACOF will focus on the growing opportunity for structured credit instruments for high quality businesses across the continent.
In this way, the fund will support Afreximbank’s developmental mandate which include the promotion of intra-African trade and development of value-added exports in Africa.
This, the Bank disclosed, will stimulate growth in intra-African trade, employment, manufacturing, and value addition.
Also, it will enhance foreign exchange earnings and tax revenues – the promotion of which is particularly important in the pandemic-adjusted era, the Bank stated.
ACOF, as stipulated by the agreement, will be managed by Gateway Partners, a leading emerging markets-focused alternative investment manager with offices in Dubai and Singapore.
Gateway, whose partners have a collective 200 years’ wealth of experience in emerging markets, a deep understanding of African markets and strong network of relationships in Africa, has demonstrated its ability and commitment to deliver superior results for the ACOF.
Recently, Afreximbank in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), announced the operational roll-out of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).
This revolutionary Financial Market Infrastructure system is purposed to enable instant, cross-border payments in local currencies between African markets.
“By simplifying cross-border transactions and reducing the dependency on hard currencies for these transactions, PAPSS is set to boost intra-African trade significantly and underpin the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
Afreximbank
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