Taking Africa To The World
The African Export-Import Bank Afreximbank, first established in 1993 as a trade facilitation institution for African countries, has been expanding its mandate over the years and is now an integral part of the continents development agenda, working closely with the African Union AU, other Africa-focussed development finance institutions and the private sector to stimulate growth across several sectors of the continental economy. With a balance sheet in excess of 36bn, having grown fourfold in less than 10 years, the bank has built the capacity to match its intentions, resulting in its growing impact and influence in the region.
In line with its original mandate, the bank has been one of the key drivers of the African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA, the initiative to create a single, borderless market across the continents 54 countries. According to projections by the World Bank, the AfCFTA has the potential to lift 50 million people out of poverty, boost overall incomes by 8, expand intra-African exports by as much as 109 and enhance international exports by 32 by 2035.
Afreximbank has launched several initiatives to support the AfCFTA.
In 2023 the bank deployed 189 financial investments across the continent, totalling 18.1bn. These investments facilitated an increase of approximately 8.9bn in intra-African trade, accounting for 4.7 of total intra-African trade and supported 1.9bn in Africas total manufactured exports, representing 1.5 of the continents manufactured exports. This financial support also contributed to the creation of an additional 145,129 direct jobs across various sectors in Africa.
Afreximbank has been actively involved in funding projects that drive industrialisation and infrastructure development. In 2024, the banks development impact investment arm, the Fund for Export Development in Africa, made a strategic investment of 300m in ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms. This investment is part of a 443m capital raise, with an additional 143m contributed by the Africa Finance Corporation. The funding aims to develop industrial ecosystems that enhance value addition and export-oriented industrialisation across Africa. We believe that we need to create the supply chains that will make Africa the next manufacturing hub, Professor Benedict Okey Oramah, president and chairman of the banks board of governors told CNN in an interview.