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AfCTA Can Help Africa Break Colonial Trade Legacies Says Okra

November 13, 2023

A former president of African Export and Import Bank, Afreximbank, Mr. Jean Louis Ekra has said that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) can break Africa’s colonial legacy of exporting raw materials and importing finished goods. Mr. Ekra who is presently the Deputy Chairperson of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) Advisory Council said today as the Trade and Investment Conference of IATF2023 began in Cairo. Mr. Ekra, who was delivering an opening statement, pointed out the unsustainability of African economies relying on natural resources and commodities, saying that this dependence made them vulnerable to adverse trade shocks, liquidity constraints and macroeconomic management challenges. Arguing that the situation needed to be addressed urgently, especially as it had worsened the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and climate change, he said that “AfCFTA cannot fail, especially given that intra-African trade is estimated at 16 per cent” which was a level of trade that compared unfavourably with other regions. Mr. Ekra said that the low level of intra-African trade was explained by constraints such as limited trade and infrastructure including payments and settlement systems, lack of access to relevant market information, limited knowledge about business, sustained investment opportunities and limited platforms to connect buyers and sellers.

He urged African countries to recognise that the AfCFTA was the missing link the continent needed and that it presented many trade and investment opportunities in manufacturing, export development, SME promotion and trade in services.
Also speaking, Ali Basha, Minister Plenipotentiary from Egypt, welcomed guests to the conference and said that the panels hosted as part of the conference should not be missed. He urged all African nations to “work hand-in-hand to address the challenges of trade integration.”
The ceremony showcased a hologram of Kwame Nkrumah, a former President of Ghana and a major advocate for African unity.

In subsequent panels discussions, attendees heard contributions on a wide range of topics, including energy transition and industrialisation in Africa, transforming the manufacturing sector and promoting diversification of African trade. During a panel on energy transition and industrialisation in Africa, Dr. Ainojie Irune, Chief Operating Officer of Oando Energy Resources, emphasised the need for African leaders to be more impatient about developing the continent, arguing that energy was crucial to Africa’s development and the transition should benefit Africa where 40 per cent of the population live without electricity.Ms. Helen Brume, Afreximbank’s Director of Projects and Asset Based Finance, said that any discussion about transitioning to cleaner energy sources must consider that 600 million Africans still lacked access to electricity while 900 million do not have access to clean energy sources for cooking.
During a panel on transforming Africa’s manufacturing sector, Olukayode Pitan, former CEO and Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Gagan Gupta, Founder and CEO of ARISE Integrated Industrial Platform, Manuel Mota, Deputy CEO of Mota-Engil, and Brian Deaver, CEO of the African Medical Center of Excellence, deliberated on the importance of establishing connectivity in Africa’s supply chains. They agreed that such a transformation would significantly improve the lives of Africa’s 1.5 billion inhabitants.

According to them, with the key to a thriving manufacturing sector being dependent on African talent, investing in their education and training was crucial.
A highlight of the day was the launch of the impact evaluation report of the US$19-billion Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Nigeria by Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank. Emeka Uzoigwe, Acting Director of Strategy and Innovation at Afreximbank, who noted that the complex was launched in 2018, emphasised the importance of the project’s insights for other African businesses as it had the potential to transform not only Nigeria but the entire West Africa.
The Trade and Investment Conference is a component of IATF2023, Africa’s largest trade and investment fair. It aims to optimise access to Africa’s connected markets through the AfCFTA. The trade fair is expected to attract over 1,600 exhibitors and 35,000 visitors, with trade and investment deals worth US$43 billion projected to be concluded during the event.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Egypt’s CIAF Leasing Gets $44 Million Aircraft Financing Facility From Afreximbank

June 7, 2023

Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-Africa Trade Bank, Afreximbank

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has provided Egypt-based CIAF Leasing with a US$44-million aircraft financing facility for the acquisition of three Embraer E-190 aircraft to strengthen the company’s leasing operations.

With Afreximbank as senior debt provider and the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) providing an export credit funding line, the transaction enhances the capacity of the African aircraft lessor. In line with the terms of the facility, the loan has been applied towards CIAF’s acquisition of the aircraft which are being leased to Egypt’s national carrier, Egyptair, and sub-leased to Air Cairo.

Commenting on the transaction, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-Africa Trade Bank, Afreximbank, said that the Bank’s participation in the transaction was a demonstration of its commitment to supporting Africa’s aviation sector, given its critical role in supporting employment creation, trade, tourism and other economic activities.

“Afreximbank, under its Intra-African Trade strategic pillar “Deliver”, recognizes the importance of a strong and effective African aviation market in realizing the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and is committed to working with other aviation industry stakeholders to facilitate the continued investment and ongoing reforms which the sector critically needs,” said Mrs. Awani.

Helen Brume, Director, Project and Asset Based Finance, Afreximbank, noted that aircraft leasing on competitive terms had remained inaccessible to many African airlines. She added that the facility provides Afreximbank an opportunity to support the efforts of the company and to help further its growth as an African lessor.

Jose Luis Pinho Leite Gordon, Director of Product Development, Innovation and Foreign Trade, at BNDES, said, “BNDES’ strategic partnership with Afreximbank is essential to boost exports of aircraft and other Brazilian products. It stands out as a very important channel to leverage business on the African continent”.

Launched on 16 June 2009, CIAF Leasing is an aircraft lessor initially established by various Egyptian “state owned” shareholder entities and Aviation Capital Group. It focuses on the operating and financial leasing of narrow-body aircraft and financial leasing of smaller ticket aviation-related equipment and assets. The company currently has six aircraft in its portfolio.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Afreximbank Raises $25M To Invest In African Startups

October 4, 2022

Prof Benedict Oramah, president Afriexim bank

The Fund for Export Development in Africa of the multinational trade financing agency Afreximbank has announced its first $670 million closing (FEDA). Four sub-funds will be fed by the new financing.

Consequently, $270 million will go to the FEDA Direct Equity Fund 1, which will invest equity in businesses engaged in the industries for which it has been designated. The Strategic Initiatives Fund, a programme of the Afreximbank to execute innovative and high-impact investments in industries crucial to expanding intra-African trade and creating value-added exports on the continent, is allocated $250 million. The Africa Credit Opportunities Fund, LP (“ACOF”), sponsored with $125 million by FEDA and Gateway Partners Group, is the third beneficiary fund. It seeks to provide suitable consumers with loans through private placement.

Prof. Benedict Oramah, the Bank's President — Prof. Benedict Oramah, the Bank’s President

The fourth fund, which will have a $25 million endowment, will focus on startup ventures that require focused funding, such as those developed by startups. By 2024, the FEDA hopes to raise up to $1.3 billion. Afreximbank is situated in a sector of the economy where there is a high demand for financial resources but a significantly smaller supply.

This mismatch has presented a business opportunity for specialised investors like Launch Africa in the venture capital and startup funding sector. According to statistics, this Mauritius-based company has taken part in more than 115 start-up financing transactions this year (until the end of September), totaling close to $106 million in funding. The deployment of Afreximbank funds will follow.

Afreximbank African startups Afreximbank African startups

South Africa’s Talk360 Raises Additional $3M Seed Funding

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

AfCTA: Africa Will be The Largest Free Trade Area Globally With $3trn GDP

September 27, 2021

Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-import Bank

The Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has said that with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 3 trillion, Africa will be the biggest free trade area in the world. This was made known by the President of Afreximbank Prof. Benedict Oramah at the opening of the Agriculture Summit Africa 2021, hosted by Sterling Bank Plc in Lagos recently. The two-day summit titled: “Building the New Agro Order” had participants drawn from different sectors of the economy.

Oramah was represented by Mr Ibrahim Sagna, Global Head/Director of the Advisory and Capital Market of the Bank who delivered the keynote address on “The Green Mile – AfCFTA, Trade and Africa’s Agribusiness Economy – Discussing the policy framework and funding opportunities for Financial Institutions.”

He said that the free trade area could be achieved through proper and successful implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) that would create a single market for over one billion consumers on the continent.

AfCFTA, according to him, was a treaty that would transform Africa from its fractured commodity dependent growth of economies into a vibrant integrated market of over 1.2 billion people.

He noted that establishing the AfCFTA and its counterparts, with the commencement of trade will drive and deliver sustainable solutions to the needs of African countries. He also said that the agreement presented a major opportunity for African countries to bring 30 million people out of extreme poverty and raise 68 million others who live on less than five to US$ 50 per day.

He added that having a strategy of interventions to regulate the external manipulation of currency was critical as it was evident that technology would be a highly significant factor in the success or failure of African exports.

“Governments and financial institutions should more aggressively pursue the approach of strengthening the International Monetary System (IMS) multi-lateral surveillance role to directly combat this issue.

“The AfCFTA depends on approvals and implementation and especially raising the agriculture sector.

“It is in agriculture that the continental free trade aspirations can be actualised especially by strengthening the regional value streams integrated into priority products led by diverse private sectors inspired by small business owners, commercial finance, miners and operators.

“If successfully implemented, the continental free trade will create a single African market for over a billion consumers with a total GDP of three trillion dollars which will make Africa the largest free trade area in the world”, he said.

Oramah also said that the tariff on African goods was relatively lower entering the European Union and the U.S. markets, making exports to these destinations more lucrative than exporting to other African countries.

He added that COVID-19 had a disastrous result all around the globe and for Africa as it revealed inefficiencies across various industries like health, logistics and food with issues mainly around vaccines affordability and availability.

According to him, this encouraged the need for laying the foundation for a structured way for African countries to manage their own circumstances in the future by supporting intra-African trade to boost regional development. He said the AfCFTA committed countries to remove tariffs on 90 per cent of goods, progressively raising trade, services and addressing a host of non-tariff barriers.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Afreximbank Says That Intra-Africa Trade Key to Cushioning the Blow of Trade Tensions

December 17, 2020

A new report released yesterday by the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) has highlighted the importance of intra African trade to tackle the myriads of trade tensions across the continent. The annual African Trade Report (ATR) examined trade and economic developments in Africa in 2019, a year dominated by trade wars and escalating tariffs that resulted in a sharp deceleration of global trade growth. This has been compounded by Covid-19, and as a result, following a fall of 2.8% last year, global trade is expected to shrink by 9.2% in 2020.

Citing emerging figures, the Report noted that global trade is expected to contract by 9.2% this year, having fallen by 2.8% in 2019 as Africa’s share of global trade was 2.7% in 2019, below the 4% figure of the 1970s. It also notes that informal cross-border trade which is a key component of intra-African trade is wide-spread in its composition. The African Trade Report estimates that in Eastern African ICBT is very high and could be worth as much as 80% of value of formal trade in some countries.

South Africa was the biggest contributor to Intra-African trade, accounting for 23% of total trade, in 2019. The biggest jump came from DRC which became the second intra-African trading nation, accounting for 10.4% of total intra-African trade and Nigeria was third with 7%. Continent remains overly dependent on export of raw commodities, with oil and gas accounting for over 37% of total exports. Afreximbank’s African Commodity Index is down 20% year on year, but shows a V-shaped recovery from the lows of April.

The ATR conducted an extensive study of informal cross-border trade (ICBT), the first attempt at measuring in a detailed manner the size and composition of informal trade. Despite regional variations, the report highlighted the importance of ICBT for generating employment and income. The report estimates that it serves as a source of income for about 43% of Africa’s population and is dominated by women. In Southern Africa (the SADC block), female traders account for about 70% of ICBT. In West Africa, food and agriculture products accounted for 30% of intra-regional trade.

Commenting on the report, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said that: “Even though ICBT accounts for a significant proportion of domestic absorption and has become a major source of income for consumption smoothing, its contribution to GDP is hardly recognized.”

By bringing an evidence-based approach to measuring ICBT, the report highlights the areas that can be targeted to grow intra-African trade and transition ICBT to formality. For example, removing technical and non-tariff barriers to trade, as well as simplifying processes, increasing access to finance and creating payment systems that draw on digitalization to mitigate risks will help traders scale and move up the value chain. ICBT is currently a cash-only business. Many recommendations come out of the report which will become even more relevant with the advent of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Afreximbank, for example, is rolling out its Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS) to enable buyers and sellers to trade in local currency, as well as reducing the security risk associated with trading in cash.

In the period Jan to Aug, Africa’s merchandise trade contracted by 12% compared to same period last year, with April and May emerging as the period witnessing the largest contractions. The outlook for 2021 is positive and Africa’s trade is expected to rebound strongly in 2021 as global economic activity picks up and demands for African exports increases. The share of Africa’s exports to Asia increased to 30.79 percent in 2019 while the EU’s share decreased to 24.6. China and India have been the main drivers of the rising trade relationships between Africa and Asia, with China and India accounting for 27 percent of Africa’s total merchandise exports in 2019.

A similar pattern is also observed in the sourcing of imports by African countries. Even though the EU has historically been the largest market for Africa’s imports, its share of total African imports has been decreasing steadily and Asia has become as important as the EU.

The value of total intra-African trade fell by 5.23 percent in 2019 reducing its overall contribution to overall African trade, from about 15 percent in 2018 to 14.4 percent in 2019. South Africa maintained its position as the largest intra-African trade nation, accounting for 23.1 percent of total intra-African trade in 2019. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) consolidated its position as a major contributor to intra-African trade, recording an increase of 10.4 percent in total trade with the continent to emerge as the second largest intra-African trade economy on the continent in 2019. Despite declining by 4.7 percent, Nigeria’s share of intra-African trade remained constant at about 7 percent and Nigeria emerged as the third largest intra-African trade country.

Commodities play an outsize role in terms of the value of African exports. Oil & Gas, despite a significant fall in price, still accounted for 37% of total African exports in 2019. Afreximbank, through their African Commodity Index, a trade-weighted index which tracks Africa’s 13 most important commodities, saw a V-shaped recovery between February and October although the index is approximately 30% below what it was in December 2018 and 20% below what it was at the start of the year.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

African Commodity Index declines moderately in Q3-2020

November 18, 2020

Chief Economist at Afreximbank, Dr Hippolyte Fofack

There are indications that this is not the best of times for many resource rich African countries as the Afreximbank African Commodity Index (AACI) for Q3-2020 shows a marked decline. The AACI which iis a trade-weighted index designed to track the price performance of 13 different commodities of interest to Africa and the Bank on a quarterly basis. In its Q3-2020 reading, the composite index fell marginally by 1% quarter-on-quarter (q/q), mainly on account of a pull-back in the energy sub-index. In comparison, the agricultural commodities sub-index rose to become the top performer in the quarter, outstripping gains in base and precious metals.

The recurrence of adverse commodity terms of trade shocks has been the bane of African economies, and in tracking the movements in commodity prices the AACI highlights areas requiring pre-emptive measures by the Bank, its key stakeholders and policymakers in its member countries, as well as global institutions interested in the African market, to effectively mitigate risks associated with commodity price volatility.

An overview of the AACI for Q3-2020 indicates that on a quarterly basis shows that the energy sub-index fell by 8% due largely to a sharp drop in oil prices as Chinese demand waned and Saudi Arabia cut its pricing; The agricultural commodities sub-index rose 13% due in part to suboptimal weather conditions in major producing countries. But within that index, Sugar prices gained on expectations of firm import demand from China and fears that Thailand’s crop could shrink in 2021 following a drought; Cocoa futures enjoyed a pre-election premium in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, despite the looming risk of bumper harvests in the 2020/21 season and the decline in the price of cocoa butter; Cotton rose to its highest level since February 2020 due to the threat of storm Sally on the US cotton harvest, coupled with poor field conditions in the US; Coffee rose 10% as La Nina weather conditions in Vietnam, the world’s largest producer of Robusta coffee, raised the possibility of a shortage in exports.

Base metals sub-index however, rose 9% due to several factors including ongoing supply concerns for copper in Chile and Peru and strong demand in China, especially as the State Grid boosted spending to improve the power network; Precious metals sub-index, the best performer year-to-date, rose 7% in the quarter as the demand for haven bullion continued in the face of persistent economic challenges triggered by COVID-19 and heightening geopolitical tensions. In addition, Gold enjoyed record inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETFs) which offset major weaknesses in jewellery demand. Regarding the outlook for commodity prices, the AACI highlights the generally conservative market sentiment with consensus forecasts predicting prices to stay within a tight range in the near term with the exception of Crude oil, Coffee, Crude Palm Oil, Cobalt and Sugar.

Speaking on the development, the Chief Economist at Afreximbank, Dr Hippolyte Fofack said that “Commodity prices in Q3-2020 have largely been impacted by COVID-19. The pandemic has exposed global demand shifts that have seen the oil industry incur backlogs and agricultural commodity prices dwindle in the first half of the year. The outlook for 2021 is positive however conservative the markets still are. We hope to see an increase in global demand within Q1 and Q2 – 2021 buoyed by the relaxation of most COVID-19 disruptions and restrictions.’’

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Afreximbank to Fund Africa’s Covid-19 Vaccine Purchase with $5bn

November 3, 2020

Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank

The African Export-Import Bank has expressed readiness to raise up to $5bn to purchase Covid-19 vaccines for African countries this was made known head of Africa’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) saying that Africa needs to be proactive in the race to secure vaccines for the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 41-million people globally.

Covax, a global Covid-19 vaccine allocation plan co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), will only be able to secure shots for less than 10% of the continent’s population of 1.29-billion, he said. Western nations are spending billions to shore up supplies of potential inoculations.

In September, the European Commission reached agreements with drugmakers AstraZeneca, Sanofi and GSK to buy up to 700-million doses. Covax, designed to lower prices and discourage national governments from hoarding Covid-19 vaccines, aims to help buy and fairly distribute at least 2-billion doses of approved vaccines by the end of 2021.

“We are discussing with Afreximbank, and they … say look, we are ready to raise up to about $5bn to support additional doses of vaccines,” Nkengasong said in an interview. He added the money could be poured into Covax or spent to negotiate directly with manufacturers.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Afreximbank appoints Moltke as Director of Syndications

September 30, 2020

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the appointment of Mr. Constantin von Moltke as its Director of Syndications and Agency. Prior to the appointment, Moltke had been serving as the Head of Syndicated Loans at Afreximbank, having joined in 2016. He has more than 20 years’ experience in structured finance, including over 15 years focused on syndicated lending. Moltke’s experience spans commercial banks and development finance institutions in the loan markets in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

He was the Head of Loan Syndication and Co-Financing in the Private Sector Department for four years at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and prior to his AfDB experience, he was Global Head of the Project and Commodity Finance Loan Syndication team at UniCredit Group from 2002 to 2012. Mr. von Moltke also served as Manager in the European Energy and Utilities project and acquisition finance team at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein from 1996 to 2001.

In these roles, Moltke has been responsible for advising, arranging and syndicating project acquisition financings and structured commodity financings in the energy, infrastructure, natural resources and industries sectors. He started his career at the International Trade Centre (UNCTAD/WTO) in Geneva having graduated from Fribourg University, Switzerland with a Master’s degree in economics and political science.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Fitch affirms Afreximbank’s BBB- credit rating

September 24, 2020

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced that Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Bank’s long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘BBB-‘with a stable outlook. The agency also affirmed the Bank’s Short-Term IDR at ‘F3’ and senior unsecured debt at ‘BBB-‘. Fitch highlighted that Afreximbank’s ‘BBB-‘ rating is driven by its intrinsic features, including solvency and liquidity, and adding that the ongoing and expected capital increases support the resilience of the bank’s solvency during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency noted that “the strong capitalization is underpinned by the equity to assets guarantees ratio at 18.1% in 2019, close to 2018 level (18.5%) as the bank’s expansion has been broadly matched by paid-in capital payments from the ongoing US$1 billion capital increase (targeted to be completed by end-2021, 91% had been raised by end-H1 2020) and internal capital generation”.

Fitch further noted that a high level of loan collateralization (88% of the facilities), credit insurances from ‘A’ rated insurers and hedging strategies on commodity backed facilities, have all helped the Bank maintain a low impairment ratio of 2.4% on a 10-year average, “despite its ‘high’ risk operating environment.” Fitch observes that the Bureau of African Union Heads of States and Governments recently endorsed a significant increase to Afreximbank’s subscribed capital, which will further support the resilience of the Bank’s solvency amid COVID-19 related pressures on asset quality. The agency expressed the view that Afreximbank’s PATIMFA facility, which is supporting African nations during the pandemic, will incentivize sovereigns to remain current on loan repayments with the Bank.

Reacting to the development, the Bank’s president Prof. Benedict Oramah, said that “Afreximbank is pleased to receive this positive affirmation from Fitch and we have full confidence in our resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through strong liquidity and robust risk management, we have ensured that we have the solid foundation needed to support Africa’s post-pandemic recovery and the continued expansion of intra-African trade. Our strategic response to COVID-19, and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, will only strengthen our position, reinforcing our role as a key driver of the continent’s economic development.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Afreximbank Disburses US$200 million to Zenith Bank Nigeria to Cushion Impact of COVID-19

September 11, 2020

Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Zenith Bank, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has disbursed US$200 million to Zenith Bank Plc Nigeria under its Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA).The funds will assist Zenith Bank to continue to maintain foreign currency trade flows impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They will also allow Zenith Bank to on-lend to eligible sub-borrowers involved in the manufacture and supply of medical resources needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking on the facility, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Zenith Bank, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu said: “The Afreximbank facility undoubtedly underscores the confidence reposed in Zenith Bank, and it will enable the bank to contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by providing trade finance and foreign currency funding for the importation of urgent medical equipment and raw materials.”

Zenith Bank Plc is Nigeria’s largest bank by Tier-1 capital. The bank serves more than 9 million corporate and individual clients through its network of over 500 branches across Nigeria and its subsidiaries in the Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom. It also has a representative office in Beijing China, and Dubai (UAE) a branch of Zenith Bank UK.

Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said: “The Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) is designed to support and stabilize the foreign exchange resources of African countries, enabling them to support critical imports under emergency conditions. We are pleased to contribute to keeping economies going especially during this pandemic. The role that banks such as Zenith Bank play in Africa is huge. Supporting them to carry out their mandate is our greatest contribution to making sure that African countries and institutions build back better from the shocks of the pandemic.”

PATIMFA was set up in March 2020 to provide financing to assist Afreximbank member countries to adjust in an orderly manner to the financial, economic and health services shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This 3-year medium-term facility has been availed through direct funding. Afreximbank has already disbursed more than US$3.5 billion under PATIMFA. In addition, the Bank provided a grant of US$3 million towards the COVID-19 Special Fund set up by the African Union as well as to the African Center for Disease Control and other agencies.

Afreximbank has a history of providing support to African economies in times of economic crisis. During the 2015 economic crisis, it introduced a Counter-Cyclical Trade Liquidity Facility under which it disbursed more than $10 billion on a revolving basis to enable member countries to adjust to the adverse economic shocks. That facility helped key African economies to manage that crisis and recover swiftly.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry