Afreximbank supports Nigeria with $17 billion – CEO

The President and Chief Executive Officer of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Dr. Benedict Oramah, has revealed that the regional financial institution approved a total of $17 billion for Nigerian entities between 1994 and December 2017.

Oramah, who made the disclosure in Abuja at the weekend when he led an Afreximbank delegation on a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, said the bank’s facilities had made major impact on critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.

He further revealed that the bank had outstanding loans of about $3.5 billion in Nigeria as at December 31, 2017. According to him, sectors in the country that are benefiting from Afrexim bank’s facilities include financial institutions, transport, hospitality, manufacturing, agro-allied, oil and gas, power, and telecommunications.

Oramah argued that Afreximbank’s support to Nigeria had included provision of liquidity and trade finance lines of more than $800 million during the banking consolidation period when many international banks cut credit lines to the country and the provision of $1.8 billion to support the economy during the recent oil price shock in 2015-2016.

He enumerated the bank’s current initiatives in Nigeria to include the development of testing and inspection centres across the country in collaboration with Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON); establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Tertiary Healthcare/Medical Park; potential participation in the Nigeria SEZ Investment Company Ltd being promoted by the government; support for industrial projects through loans to strategic banks; arrangement and disbursal of $750 million to the Bank of Industry (BoI) in June; Others are the provision of trade and letter of credit lines to all Nigerian banks, in close coordination with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure access to trade finance; and development of an Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre in Abuja.

The Afrexim Bank boss added that the bank was willing to work with the government to arrange financing of up to $1 billion to support the government’s investments in trade enabling infrastructure.

He invited President Buhari and the Nigerian government to attend the Afreximbank Annual Meetings scheduled to take place in Abuja from July 11 to 14 this year.

Oramah also informed President Buhari that Afreximbank was organising the Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo from December 11 to 17 to promote trade among African countries.

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