Afreximbank’s trade and project financing in Nigeria reaches $35 billion

19 May 2017
Financial Nigeria

Summary

President of Afreximbank said the lender has launched some initiatives designed to increase industrial capacity and improve export competitiveness, some of which will be hosted in Nigeria.

Benedict Oramah, President, African Export-Import Bank

African Export-Import Bank said it has disbursed over $35 billion in trade and project financing since its inception in 1993 to Nigerian public and private entities, according to a statement released on Thursday.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja on Tuesday, President of Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah, said the lender’s current credit exposure to Nigeria stands at $3.5 billion.

Some of Afreximbank’s disbursements to Nigeria include: financing provided to Nigerian banks to improve trade finance and foreign exchange liquidity; facilities arranged for entities involved in export processing, manufacturing, aviation and hospitality; and loans granted to local oil companies to acquire and operate oil mining leases divested by major international oil companies, Oramah said.

“In line with the Bank’s IMPACT 2021 Strategy, we are assisting our member countries in transforming their economies by financing their industrialisation and export manufacturing with a strong focus on intra-regional trade promotion,” Oramah said.

The Afreximbank President said the lender has launched some initiatives designed to increase industrial capacity and improve export competitiveness in member countries.

Some of these initiatives, which will be hosted in Nigeria, include: the establishment of an internationally-accredited inspection and certification centre to improve compliance of African exports with international technical and sanitary requirements; the creation of industrial and export processing zones dedicated to light manufacturing and agro-processing; and the construction of Africa’s first center of excellence in medical services through Afreximbank’s strategic alliance with King’s College Hospital, London, which aims to attract medical tourism and reduce the outflow of Africans seeking world-class treatment abroad.

Oramah said the lender has provided new credit lines and letters of credit confirmations to Nigerian banks, with the current exposure exceeding $1 billion. Furthermore, Afreximbank is also creating capacity in Nigeria for small and medium enterprises to access working capital finance through its factoring programme.

“As a result of training sessions and seminars conducted by the Bank in the country, factoring companies have been emerging and progress has been made in developing a legal framework for the growth of that activity in Nigeria,” Oramah said.

In his remarks, Osinbajo commended Afreximbank for its continued support to Nigeria and for constantly seeking innovative solutions to bridge the trade finance gap in Africa. The Acting President also reiterated that the Nigerian government would support Afreximbank’s mandate, stressing the importance of strengthening the private sector’s role and contributing to the continent’s trade development agenda.

Founded in October 1993 in Abuja, Afreximbank is one of the major Pan-African multilateral financial institutions devoted to promoting intra- and extra-African trade. With assets of over $10 billion, the Afreximbank is the second largest multilateral finance institution in Africa after the African Development Bank. Since 1994, Afreximbank has approved more than $51 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $10.3 billion in 2016.


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