Mr. Tito Alai, Director for Communication and Events of the Africa Export and Import Bank (AfreExim Bank) has disclosed that Ghana will host the bank’s 30th Annual General Meeting in Accra.
Mr. Tito Alai made this known when he led a delegation from the Africa Export and Import Bank and paid a courtesy call on a Deputy Minister for Finance, John Kumah. He used the occasion to officially inform the Ministry of the Bank’s decision to have Ghana host its 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra from 19th to 25th June, 2023.
Mr. Tito Alai, the leader of the delegation noted that like Ghana, the Bank has been promoting the integration of African economies for the total liberation of Africa, adding that they could not have chosen a better place than Accra where the liberation story for Sub-Saharan Africa began.
The Director for Communication and Events noted further that, deliberations on the upcoming Annual General Meetings would continue earnestly in the coming months and commended the local team for taking them on a tour of the hosting facilities and expressed their joy at the facilities.
Mr. John Kumah, in welcoming the delegation on behalf of the Minister, commended the Bank’s commitment to African values and Pan-Africanism, noting that these values are ingrained in Ghanaians.
The Deputy Minister added that the time is ripe for Africa to harness its collective resources for the growth and prosperity of its citizens. He averred it is highly commendable for the Bank to represent what the continent stands for.
Mr. John Kumah stressed that Ghana’s desire has always been for Africa to have a common front on economic and political issues to give Africa solid bargaining power, adding, “we can do better when we harness our collective efforts in all fields”.
Ghana Prepared to Host the AGM
The Deputy Minister showed Government’s preparedness to host the event that is expected to bring over 3000 participants into the country. He assured the delegation that the Ministry will accord them all the needed assistance, noting that the Minister is particularly enthused about the bank’s overall commitment to African growth.
“We are not just hosting the event, we are happy to be part of the success story of the Bank” Mr. Kumah added. Present at the meeting were officials of the Ministry and other team members of the Bank.
Afreximbank Annual Meetings are among the Bank’s most prominent events. They are sought-after keenly by banking industry professionals, trade and trade finance practitioners and other parties involved in economic development from across Africa and beyond. They are also attended by business and political leaders and have been ranked among the most important gatherings of economic decision-makers in Africa.
The Bank was established in Abuja, Nigeria in October 1993 by African Governments, African private and institutional investors as well as non-African financial institutions and private investors for the purpose of financing, promoting, and expanding intra-African and extra-African trade.
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. 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, 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.