The Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved US$1.5 billion funding to enable member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that have ratified the Partnership Agreement with Afreximbank to tap into the Bank’s various financial instruments.
The US$1.5 billion financing approved by the Board of Directors of Afreximbank enables CARICOM countries to access the Bank’s financing instruments through financing facilities that support various identified economic sectors including tourism, healthcare, renewable energy, shipping, mining, agriculture and agribusiness, air links, and aquaculture. Afreximbank will also work to support local financial institutions to source finance for SMEs.
This Board approval follows the accession of 9 CARICOM member countries to the Afreximbank Partnership Agreement which was launched on 1st September 2022, at the first Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) held in Bridgetown, Barbados. Recently ratified by Barbados and in the process of being ratified by the other 8 signatories, the treaty remains open for accession to the 6 CARICOM members that have yet to sign.
Upon accession to the agreement, CARICOM member countries become Participating States in Afreximbank, conferring on the Bank the same privileges and immunities that it enjoys in the African Participating States that acceded to its Establishment Agreement. It unlocks the commencement of Afreximbank’s operations in the Caribbean.
The Partnership Agreement between Afreximbank and the constituent countries of CARICOM consolidates the Bank’s efforts to promote and develop South-South trade and specifically trade between Africa and the Caribbean in line with its Diaspora Strategy. Afreximbank defines intra-African trade as the flow of goods and services between or among African countries as well as the flow of goods and services between Africa and Africans in the Diaspora.
These key sectors were identified following several Afreximbank-led business development and trade and investment promotion missions to the Caribbean. As part of its twinning initiatives, and investment promotion activities, Afreximbank is also working to introduce CARICOM investors and financial institutions to opportunities in all sectors across Africa, while exposing African investors to investment opportunities in key sectors identified in CARICOM countries.
Chairman of the Board of Directors Hails Approval of the Funds
Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, hailed the approval noting that it’s a step in the right direction to help the Caribbean countries.
“This approval by our Board of Directors of US$1.5 billion in funding is another giant step in the historic reconnection we are successfully forging between Africa and the Caribbean. Afreximbank is now all set to operate in the CARICOM member countries which we are pleased to welcome as Participating States in the Bank. We look forward to having all CARICOM members on board to maintain the extraordinary momentum we have been building since we met at the Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum in September 2022, and to respond together, through trade, to the development needs of the people of both our regions.”
Professor Benedict Oramah
Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has 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 AfCFTA.
Afreximbank is working with the AU and the AfCFTA Secretariat to develop an Adjustment Facility to support countries in effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of 2021, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at about US$25 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$4 billion. Afreximbank disbursed more than US$51 billion between 2016 and 2021. The Bank has ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
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