African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) said its financing and trade facilitation instruments are meant to support intra-African trade and the AfCFTA, adding that it disbursed $20 billion (2017–2021) in support of intra-African trade and investment, “and we are on course to double this to $40 billion by 2026.
Some of the key initiatives we have been using to provide financing include the Global Facility for Intra-African Trade Champions and the EPC Initiative,” said Gainmore Zanamwe, Director, Trade Facilitation and Investment Promotion, Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Afreximbank.
He noted this on Monday at the ongoing AfCFTA Public Sector, Private Sector, and Press (P3) Summit in Abuja.
“Bringing the Public Sector, Private Sector, and Press in the same room to discuss the challenges and opportunities offered by the AfCFTA is a good example on how to galvanise all the stakeholders to support the implementation of the AfCFTA, ” he added.
“We are pleased with the fact that 49 countries have ratified the AfCFTA and are at various stages of implementing the Agreement. This is a clear demonstration of a collective political will and decisive action that Africa has taken to rid itself of the vestiges of colonialism and the divisions, which have for far too long undermined continental integration and the establishment of the Africa We Want.
“The focus now should be a robust engagement between the government, private sector to ensure that we all focus on implementation of the Agreement. The media also plays an important role in shaping the narrative on the AfCFTA and advocating for its implementation”, Zanamwe added.
“Our presence at this gathering- The P3 Summit- is a clear testament that Afreximbank is fully committed to making the single market under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) a reality.
“We are fully committed to taking the AfCFTA from a mere legal instrument and using it to catalyse industrialisation and development of regional value chains.
“We are committed to deploying a range of our trade finance and facilitation instruments to ensure that the AfCFTA succeeds. As you may be aware, our mandate is to promote and facilitate African trade, and the AfCFTA provides that framework for doing that”,
Zanamwe noted.
He noted that over the past ten years, under the leadership of Benedict Oramah, “our former President, Afreximbank prioritised intra-African trade and implementation of the AfCFTA. Our new President, Dr George Elombi, also during his investiture indicated that he is committed the preserve achievements done under prof Oramah, which include the support to AfCFTA.
“He called upon us to focus on producing and processing to enable us to trade with each other and develop our economies. Dr Elombi called for the continent to focus on accelerating value addition and strategic minerals processing to catalyse industrialisation and create decent jobs.
He reiterated the importance of deepening intra-African trade and regional trade and highlighted that value addition depends on securing markets, and in this context we need to AfCFTA to work and break all the barriers. Dr Elombi also emphasized the need to establish trade-enabling infrastructure that directly connects Africa (roads, rail, ports, logistics, inland container depots, power stations).
“He also stated that Africa needs to focus on digital and innovative technology including Artificial intelligence. All these issues are relevant for our discussion today and Nigeria should take a lead in terms of championing the implementation of the AfCFTA,” Zanamwe.
“Under the Global Facility for Intra-African Trade Champions (INTRA-CHAMPS), the Bank provides financing, risk guarantees, advisory services, twinning, and ecosystem-building support. Today, INTRA-CHAMPS have helped catalyze the pan-African expansion of several major industrial players.
“For instance, ElSewedy Electric, has leveraged Afreximbank support to extend its operations across more than 15 African countries, delivering power and infrastructure projects that are foundational to trade and development.
“The Dangote Group, a longstanding beneficiary of the Bank’s support, has grown into Africa’s most iconic industrial conglomerate with cement, fertilizer, and refinery operations spanning the continent”, he further noted.
Afreximbank also said that it is working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and its partner Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP), established the Africa Trade and Distribution Company (ATDC), which will provide market intelligence, aggregation, logistics services to support informal cross-border traders, small and medium enterprises and even large corporates to participate in intra-African trade under the AfCFTA as well as global trade.
The two-day summit, themed AfCFTA Simplified: P3 Winning Together, is organised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in partnership with Afreximbank.
“The ATDC will have two operating entities, one focusing on commodities and valued added products and another one focusing on fuel and minerals. It will also support the distribution of the products from the Dangote refinery as well as those from the industrial parks supported by the Bank and third parties. We are currently working with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nigeria as well as Zimbabwe and Malawi to enable them to establish national subsidiaries of ATDC,” he said.