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Tag: AFREXIMBANK

  • Afreximbank names Mba Director for Compliance

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has upgraded its compliance function to a full department, naming long-serving banker Ms. Maureen Mba as Director. Until her appointment, Ms. Mba was Associate Director in charge of the Compliance Unit, as it then was, having assumed that position in 2017. Prior to that, she served as Manager, Compliance, from 2005. Ms. Mba joined Afreximbank from the Central Bank of Nigeria where she worked in the Office of the Governor from 1986 to 1994.

    She earned her MBA (General Management Emphasis) from City University, Bellevue, Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Science from the New York Institute of Technology, also in the US. She also holds the Diplôme Approfondie in French Studies and Computing from the Chambre de Commerce de l’Exterieur/Cite Universitaire, Strasbourg, France, and a Diplome French from the Universite de Clemont Ferront, also in France.

     

    She has attended numerous professional training programmes and holds several certifications in ethics, corporate governance and compliance.

    In her new role, Ms. Mba will be in charge of directing Afreximbank’s compliance functions and the strategic objectives related to compliance risk management. Her responsibilities will include; implementing appropriate structures that allows for effective oversight of the Bank’s compliance landscape and strengthening existing capacity by ensuring that the Bank stays abreast of global trends with regard to ethics, corporate governance and compliance risk management.

  • Afreximbank’s FEDA to lift FDI

    The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the equity investment fund created recently by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), will catalyse foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Africa’s trade and export sectors, President of the bank, Benedict Oramah has said.

    Speaking in Tunis during the opening of the Financing Investment and Trade in Africa conference organized by the Tunisia-Africa Business Council, Oramah said that Afreximbank’s vision was to leverage $1 billion in support of FEDA’s mission and to catalyze four times that amount in FDI in five years.

    He explained that the kind of equity funding currently available in Africa was not appropriate for turning the continent into the trade hub which it needed to become in order to achieve desired growth, saying that FEDA would ensure that investors’ investments were protected under the immunities and privileges available to Afreximbank and that the investments enjoyed tax privileges and incentives.

     

     

  • Afreximbank’s FEDA to lift FDI

    The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the equity investment fund created recently by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), will catalyse foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Africa’s trade and export sectors, President of the bank, Benedict Oramah, has said.

    Speaking in Tunis during the opening of the Financing Investment and Trade in Africa conference organised by the Tunisia-Africa Business Council, Oramah said that Afreximbank’s vision was to leverage $1 billion in support of FEDA’s mission and to catalyse four times that amount in FDI in five years.

    He explained that the kind of equity funding currently available in Africa was not appropriate for turning the continent into the trade hub it needed to become in order to achieve desired growth, saying that FEDA would ensure that investors’ investments were protected under the immunities and privileges available to Afrexim-bank, and that the investments enjoyed tax privileges and incentives.

    The President described development finance institutions as market failure institutions that existed to complement what markets were unable to offer or that begin to create markets, explaining that, as a result, Afreximbank’s interventions were based on the philosophy of bringing additionality, rather than displacing commercial banks.

    Afreximbank was making it possible for financing to come into Africa, he said. The bank had just expanded its guarantee offering to make it more accessible to companies coming into Africa, including through its Intra-African Investment Guarantee Facility. It had also introduced Mansa, a customer due diligence platform, which will helps to address the challenge of many African countries not being able to access trade finance due to high compliance cost.

    On infrastructure, the President said that if the continent looked inward, it could find the funds to meet its infrastructure needs. According to him, with the about $700 billion under management by African pension funds and the reserves kept abroad by African central banks already adding up to about $1 trillion, the funds are already adequate to meet Africa’s need. However, because they are outside the continent, and those keeping them deem it too risky to invest in Africa, the funds are not being invested in Africa.

    “These are things that need to be fixed,” he argued.

    President Oramah announced that Afreximbank was developing a platform that would make it possible for cross-border trade to occur in local currencies across Africa. The bank was discussing with the Association of Africa Stock Exchanges to use the platform to bring liquidity to the member exchanges.

    He said that there was need for a change in mindset and for regulatory reform that would allow the creation of pan-African solutions in order for liquidity to come to some of the African exchanges to enable them carry infrastructure funds.

    Touting Afreximbank’s support for Tunisia, the President recalled that the bank had just announced a $500-million Tunisia-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme, which will support Tunisian businesses trading with the rest of Africa and had approved $300 million for six Tunisian banks under its Afreximbank Trade Facilitation Programme.

    It was also was considering reopening its Tunis-based Regional Office for the Maghreb Region in order to revive trade flows between North Africa and the rest of the continent and to be nearer to Tunisian businesses.

     

  • Afreximbank to facilitate $4b FDI into Africa

    The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the equity investment fund created  by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), will catalyse $4billion foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Africa’s trade and export sectors,  President of the Bank,  Prof. Benedict Oramah, has said.

    Speaking in Tunis during the opening of the Financing Investment and Trade in Africa conference organised by the Tunisia-Africa Business Council, Oramah said the bank’s vision was to leverage $1 billion in support of FEDA’s mission and to catalyse four times that amount in FDI in five years.

    He said the kind of equity funding currently available on the continent was not appropriate for turning the continent into the trade hub which it needed to become in order to achieve desired growth.  Oramah said FEDA will ensure that investors’ investments were protected under the immunities and privileges available to Afreximbank and that the investments enjoyed tax privileges and incentives.

    He described development finance institutions as market failure institutions that existed to complement what markets were unable to offer or that begin to create markets, adding that as a result, Afreximbank’s interventions were based on the philosophy of bringing additionality, rather than displacing commercial banks.

    He said Afreximbank is making it possible for financing to come into Africa. The bank had just expanded its guarantee offering to make it more accessible to companies coming into Africa, including through its Intra-African Investment Guarantee Facility. It had also introduced Mansa, a customer due diligence platform, which will help to address the challenge of many African countries not being able to access trade finance due to high compliance cost.

    On infrastructure, Oramah said if the continent looked inward, it could find the funds to meet its infrastructure needs. According to him, with the about $700 billion under management by African pension funds and the reserves kept abroad by African central banks already adding up to about $1 trillion, the funds are already adequate to meet Africa’s need. However, because they are outside the continent, and those keeping them deem it too risky to invest in Africa, the funds are not being invested in Africa. “These are things that need to be fixed,” he argued.

    Oramah said Afreximbank was developing a platform that will make it possible for cross-border trade to occur in local currencies across Africa. The bank was discussing with the Association of Africa Stock Exchanges to use the platform to bring liquidity to the member exchanges.

  • Afreximbank commits $100m to African trade

    TheAfreximbank backed $100 million Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) will support trade finance in Africa. trade finance into Africa to also mobilise foreign direct investment (FDI) into the continent.

    FEDA, a wholly-owned development-oriented subsidiary of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has been set up to implement the Bank’s Equity Investment Programme by providing seed capital to companies in Afreximbank’s key focus sectors, including agri-business; manufacturing; consumer and retail; financial services; technology; travel and tourism; transport and logistics; and industrial parks. It will invest across all market segments but will have its greatest focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.

    Read also: Afreximbank, Fund boost African SMEs with $30million

    The long-term objective of FEDA is the provision of equity capital and related financial, non-financial and support services to operators in Africa’s tradable and support sectors, with emphasis on activities that support intra-African trade and value-added exports.

    Addressing the pre-incorporation meeting, Prof. Benedict Oramah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FEDA and President of Afreximbank, said that the fund would expand Afreximbank’s offerings to include vital equity investments that would boost intra-African trade.

    Philip Kamau, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FEDA, said that a feasibility study conducted for Afreximbank had identified a funding gap which was inhibiting intra-African trade. FEDA had, therefore, been set up to provide equity and to leverage FDI to help close that gap.

     

     

  • Afreximbank lends $170m to Orascom for Pan-African expansion

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a facility agreement lending $170 million to Egypt-based conglomerate Orascom Investment Holding (OIH) in Cairo to assist the company expand its pan-African activities in pursuit of short and medium-term expansion strategy.

    Speaking at the signing, Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah said the facility was part of the Bank’s effort to promote intra-African investments and export manufacturing, using the framework of its Intra-African Investment Finance facility.

    Oramah said the transaction was a significant opportunity for OIH’s targeted investments in companies across Africa to support their transformation, increase their production capacity and produce higher quality exports through better value addition, especially in the agro-processing sector.

    “The facility would complement ongoing macro-economic and safety net reforms in Egypt, which seek to foster sector-specific economic growth, especially in strategic sectors with proven record of creating jobs and reducing poverty,” he said.

    The agreement, he said, would set up long-term strategic partnership between Afreximbank and Orascom, describing OIH as one of the most successful and diverse holding companies in the North Africa region, with the potential of assisting the Bank in expanding its operations in the regional and Egyptian markets.

    “Our collaboration opens the potential for our two institutions to strengthen their relationship and mutual cooperation  to make significant contributions towards unlocking the full potential of intra-African investment,” he added.

    Also, OIH Chairman Naguib Sawiris, said the company’s main focus was on investing in Africa, adding that the continent would only achieve progress if intra-African trade and investment growth happened.

    “It was up to the Africans to come together to work for that goal,” he said. In that regard, Orascom Investment would explore business and investment opportunities referred to it by Afreximbank in such countries as Rwanda, Togo, Eretria, Nigeria and Sao Tome.

    Sawiris commended Afreximbank for the quick turnaround in processing the transaction and for the professionalism and dedication shown by the Afreximbank team.

    At the ceremony were Tamer Elmahdy, Chief Executive Officer; and Khaled Elleithy, Chief Financial Officer.

  • Afreximbank, Fund boost African SMEs with $30million

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed an agreement with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) for a $30 million re-guarantee facility to support African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the trade value chain to access funds for their activities.

    A statement from the bank said  the Director, Trade Finance, Gwen Mwaba, signed the agreement on behalf of Afreximbank, while Constant Nzi, Chief Risk Officer of AGF, signed for the Fund, during a ceremony held on the sidelines of the recently-concluded Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo.

    The agreement provides for the facility to be used to support the financing needs of African SMEs by enhancing their access to long-term financing, thereby acting as a catalyst to enable them to grow, create more jobs, sustain the existing labour force and develop intra-African and extra-African trade.

    The re-guarantee facility is aimed at providing comfort to financial institutions in lending to SMEs, which tend to be regarded as a risky segment; enabling the financial institutions to transform their short-term deposits into long-term financing to SMEs; and supporting Afreximbank’s SME support initiative and AGF strategic plan.

    The facility is expected to support positive social-economic changes among the more than 6,000 SMEs that are expected gain access to guaranteed loans from African local banks, thereby contributing to trade development, economic growth and poverty reduction.

     

  • Nigeria signs $1b Intra-Africa trade deal with Afreximbank

    Nigeria  yesterday signed a $1billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to promote  trade.

    The trade facilitation instrument will be managed  by the Nigeria-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme (NATIPP), AFREXIM, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM).

    Afreximbank Chairman Dr. Benedict Oramah, NEPC Executive Director Segun Awolowo, NEXIM Managing Director Abubakar A. Bello and Intra-African Trade Initiative Managing Director  Mrs. Kanayo  Awani signed the agreement.

    The event, which was held at the IATF Conference Centre, was flagged off by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who flew into Cairo, the Egyptian capital yesterday morning to unveil Nigeria’s Day at the first ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair.

    He said Intra-African trade remained a veritable tool to develop the continent in the light of its growing population.

    The Vice President said  Nigeria placed a great premium on the continent’s economic  integration, adding: “We recognise  trade as a veritable tool towards Africa becoming an industrialised, prosperous and peaceful continent,  where we generate enough opportunities  to accommodate the growing numbers of our people.

    “The number entering the job market yearly in Africa is daunting and it is clear that increased intra –Africa trade  is one of the surest ways of creating the jobs  that are desperately needed. Therefore, the IATF, bringing together business communities,   innovators and creators , both in merchandise and service industries in 55 African countries, is a remarkable achievement in itself to increase trade in Nigeria,” and across the continent.

    “Today, we have come to the IATF, with a delegation of policy makers, services and market operators, who have an array of goods and services that are as rich and diverse as the people of our great nation,” he said.

    Osinbajo said Nigeria has continued to record growth with phenomenal strides  in the Information Technology field. He said: “  In the second quarter report of our Bureau of Statistics (NBS), services contributed approximately 54 per cent to the GDP, with Information and Communication being the drivers of growth. Clearly, one of the remarkable developments in Nigeria’s economic growth story, is the phenomenal  growth and depth of technology and innovation, with hundreds of new companies jostling for primacy in this fast and growing economic space.” “It is estimated that the digital economy in Nigeria will be worth $88 billion dollars, creating about three million jobs in 2021.

    “So, today, we have come with some of our best digital entrepreneurs with their products to start conversation  around cooperation and partnerships that will jump-start the continental economy, to create our own  corporations, such as Facebook, Google, among others.”

    Osinbajo spoke about Nigeria’s entertainment industry “setting the pace”, stressing that Nollywood is number three in the global rating ladder. “The Africa –wide popularity of Nollywood pointedly demonstrates that our stories are the same, our hopes and aspirations are identical,  and so our sense of fairness and justice,”  the Vice President said.

    He invited the audience to savour Nigeria’s cultural event slated for the evening (last night) where a variety of Nigeria’s cuisine and Nigeria’s artistes, including 2 face Idibia, D’banj, Femi Kuti and the Kalakuta Queens, were billed to perform.

    Osinbajo said Nigeria’s presence at the IATF will not be complete without the strong showing of the fashion industry, which he acclaimed , is internationally recognized. Over 40 exhibitors are featuring in that sector alone, with an array of products – clothes, bags, hats  and several other designs.

    At the session were Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, Abia and Kebbi Governors Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and  Mohammed Bagudu Abubakar, Prof. Pat Utomi, Chief Trade Negotiator, Nigeria Office for Trade Organisation, Chiedu Osakwe and many exhibitors, including the executive Director of SystemSpecs, ‘Deremi Atanda.

     

  • Afreximbank: AfCTA boosting intra-African trade, empowering economies

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has said that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) will promote intra-African trade and promote economic empowerment for the people.

    According to the lender, the AfCTA agreement will create more room for African countries to gain from their areas of comparative advantage and stimulate economic growth.

    The bank’s Director and Global Head Communications and Event Management,  Obi Emekekwue, who spoke during  a two-day media workshop on structured trade finance held in Casablanca, Morocco, at the weekend, explained  that the pact when fully operational, would commit African economies to the removal of trade barriers on imports.

    The programme was opportunity for the bank to educate the media participants on gains of structured trade finance and other issues relating to media practice and business reporting.

    Emekekwue said: “Consumers will benefit by being able to consume a larger variety of African products in the single market. These supply and demand effects together engender welfare gains in the form of consumer surpluses in importing African countries”.

    In addition, he said manufacturers in importing countries would also gain through declining production cost.

    “This may improve the competitiveness of domestic producers and enable African economies to integrate into global value chains,” he said.

    According to him, implementing the AfCTA has the potential to enhance efficiency of African firms, may result to structural transformation as skills and technology of African countries’ exports improves.

    Emekekwue, said, “43 per cent of goods traded within Africa are manufactured products. In addition, the technology content of intra-African trade exceeds that of African trade with the rest of the world (UNCTAD 2018).

    “Medium- and high-technology manufactures comprise 25.4 per cent and 14.1 per cent of trade within Africa.

    “Intra-African trade also has a higher industrial content than African countries’ trade with the rest of the world.”

    He said beside the cost advantages, the AfCTA would allow African domestic firms to access a 1.2 billion strong market (including a growing middle class) and thus to benefit from economies of scale.

    He noted that expanding markets offer opportunities to develop regional value chains capable of enhancing diversification and competitiveness, consolidate and integrate production infrastructure and processes across borders.

  • Afreximbank eyes $25b trade deal from intra-African fair

    • Over 1000 exhibitors expected

    The Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2018) is expected to provide access to $25 billion in trade finance deals, its organisers have said.

    The event which is being organised by Afreximbank in collaboration with the African Union Commission in Cairo, Egypt, next month, is expected to draw more than 70,000 visitors.

    According to Afreximbank, More than 70,000 visitors are expected at the IATF 2018, which will provide exhibitors a platform to showcase their goods and services to buyers and sellers and offer opportunities for business-to-business exchanges. The Trade Fair will also provide access to $25 billion in trade finance for deals concluded at the event.

    “We are encouraged by this resounding response and support received for the inaugural IATF,” President of Afreximbank,  Prof. Benedict Oramah said, adding,  “we are expecting international exhibitors and visitors from as far afield as China, Russia and Indonesia.

    “With the overwhelming response to the trade fair, buyers and sellers will be spoilt for choice of the goods and services that will be on show over the seven days,” he stated, pointing out that exhibitors will be bringing the best that their countries have to offer.

    Meanwhile, exhibitor registrations for the fair has reached 1,054, surpassing the target of 1,000 exhibitors set by the organisers.

    Afreximbank said the registered exhibitors come from 41 countries, representing diverse sectors and industries, including agriculture, automotive, information and communication technology, construction, logistics, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, clothing and textiles, energy and power and entertainment.

    Afreximbank President, Prof. Benedict Oramah, said: “We are encouraged by this resounding response and support received for the inaugural IATF. We are expecting international exhibitors and visitors from as far afield as China, Russia and Indonesia.

    “With the overwhelming response to the trade fair, buyers and sellers will be spoilt for choice of the goods and services that will be on show over the seven days.”

    He said exhibitors will bring the best that their countries have to offer.

    Running alongside the trade fair will be the IATF 2018 Conference, which will address issues relating to trade facilitation, infrastructure and payments.

    The conference will identify key trade facilitation challenges, including standards, customs and transport-related non-tariff barriers that are affecting Intra-African trade and will explore practical ways of collaboration to address them. The conference will also showcase intra-African trade value-chains and opportunities for developing and deepening them.

    As part of the trade fair implementation, Afreximbank has launched a Virtual Trade Fair (VTF) to provide continuity after the biennial IATF. Businesses that register on the VTF can exhibit their goods and services to a global audience of buyers and market players and to IATF participants. The VTF allows traders to conduct business-to-business deals, exchange market information and explore business relationships in African and global value chains during and after the IATF without necessarily being at the trade fair.

    The Africa Trade Policy Centre; Afrochampions Initiative; International Trade Centre; and Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry are partnering in the trade fair.