By Marcelle Thomas in Accra, Ghana
With a regional branch to be opened in Barbados soon, the African Export and Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) will in October host a trade and investment forum in Guyana, as President of the financial institution, Professor Benedict Oramah, yesterday underscored the myriad opportunities the partnership brings to the Caribbean.
“Eleven CARICOM States have so far joined the membership of the Bank through signatures of the Partnership Treaty. In a few weeks, we will formally launch the operations of the Bank’s Caribbean Office in Bridgetown, Barbados. We are connecting African businesses with opportunities in the Caribbean and Caribbean businesses with opportunities in Africa,” the AFREXIMBANK President told the over 4500 attendees from some 110 countries that gathered at the Accra International Conference Centre, in Accra, Ghana for the bank’s 30th annual meeting.
“… AFREXIMBANK has approved an amount of 1.5 billion US dollars to support CARICOM with plans to double that in the near future. We do these not because it is merely a nice thing to do but because a united Africa and the Caribbean represent a more potent force that can confront the exigencies of now and the challenges of tomorrow,” he added. Oramah informed that the Bank was also “working with some African and Caribbean airlines to commence commercial operations between the two regions.” The conference which runs from June 18-21, has among its delegates and Heads of State, Prime Minister of The Bahamas and Chairman of CARICOM Phillip Davis, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves. While Guyana did not have a delegation at the conference, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud told Stabroek News that an investment conference was slated for this country in October where major investment and trade opportunities will be highlighted.
“The African Export Import Bank and Guyana will be hosting the African Caribbean Trade and Investment Conference at the Marriott Hotel, from October 30 to November 3rd … This will be a major opportunity to promote trade and investment opportunities between the Caribbean and Africa,” Persaud who is in Suriname for that country’s Energy Conference said. In October of last year, President Irfaan Ali oversaw the signing of an agreement for the establishment of a partnership between CARICOM and AFREXIMBANK. The signing was held at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, and was signed by Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, and Oramah, President of the bank. Mottley was also in Guyana and witnessed the signing. Govern-ment had said that the agreement aims to facilitate cooperation, support and provide assistance of all types to enable the promotion and financing of South-South trade between African countries and Member States of the Caribbean Community.
Before the signing of the agreement, a Guyanese delegation, led by Ali and a Barbadian delegation led by Mottley had met with a team from AFREXIMBANK. Then in April of this year, the bank announced that its Board of Directors had approved the opening of the Bank’s CARICOM Office, to be established in Barbados. “The AFREXIMBANK CARICOM Office will support the implementation of the Partnership Agreement, entered into by, and between, AFREXIMBANK and CARICOM Member States aimed at expanding Africa-Caribbean trade and investment relations” the bank notified. It explained that 10 of the 15 CARICOM Member States have signed the Agreement which confers upon the signatories the status akin to those held by African Participat-ing States. It consolidates the Bank’s efforts to promote and develop South-South trade, specifically trade between Africa and the Caribbean, in line with its Diaspora Strategy and the African Union’s designation of the African Diaspora as Africa’s sixth region.
Following the establishment of the Partnership Agreement, US$1.5 billion in a credit limit was approved by AFREXIMBANK’s Board of Directors to support eligible CARICOM States, with a commitment to increase the line of credit to US$3 billion, if all member states sign on. The financing will target supporting economic sectors identified as vital to boosting the region’s prosperity, particularly the development of trade-enabling infrastructure, as well as lifting trade and investments between Africa and the CARICOM Member States while providing support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s).
“A new Middle Passage is emerging; one underpinned by trade, investment, and socio-cultural exchange, correcting the ills of slavery and fragmentation. We are supporting African investors to build ports, roads and power plants in the Caribbean; we are promoting cross acquisition of banks. AFREXIM bank is proud to be home to numerous interns from the Caribbean since 2021,” President Oramah emphasized. For his part, Bahamas’ PM Davis, Chairman of CARICOM, while welcoming the AFREXIM Bank initiative, said it gives tangible meaning to the promotion of regional integration.
Not flounder
Separately a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with The Bahamas and AFREXIM Bank. An accession deed to the partnership agreement with the bank and Government of Barbados was also signed. Mottley reasoned that the Caribbean should “not flounder” with the opportunity provided. She reminded that during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was AFREXIM bank that welcomed and assisted CARICOM countries, when vaccines and medical supplies were needed.
“It is for the benevolence of AFREXIM bank that the heads of government and heads of state of Africa have come together to establish the African Medical supplies platform. It will pool the procurement and guarantee access because we were told that our orders were simply too small to make a difference. Too small to access, from equipment to therapeutics to vaccines. Too small to be seen, too small to heard, too small to be felt,” she stated. “We, therefore, today are seeking to build the fund. That engagement which started in 2020 and which could have been left as an isolated experience, had it not been for the vision and commitment of Professor Oramah and his determination. His is the determination that if we are truly to understand our potential, we must simply go afar,” she added.
“If we are truly to unite and bring prosperity to our people, a number of things matter. We must come together to create the environment,” she also noted. “I am delighted to announce this important milestone as we forge closer ties with our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean. There are enormous opportunities to scale the trade and investment flows between the African continent and the broader African diaspora. Investment flows between Africa and the Caribbean are currently almost non-existent. This strategic partnership will open the door for enhanced trade and investment between Africa and the Caribbean. We are poised to right the wrongs of the Middle Passage. This approval is an important step towards that end. The African Export-Import Bank’s profile explains that it is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade.”
“For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying 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. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA,” the Bank President informed. At the end of 2022, AFREXIMBANK’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$31 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$5.2 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$86 billion between 2016 and 2022. AFREXIMBANK has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). AFREXIMBANK has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”).
