Today, a group of African multilateral institutions including members of the Alliance for African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI) paid a courtesy visit on His Excellency, Mohamed Ould Cheikh Al-Ghazouani, the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and Chairperson of the African Union to convey their support and commitment to the AU in implementing transformative initiatives to support Africa’s developmental agenda.
The Institutions present included African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Shelter Afrique Development Bank (SHAFDB), the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), Africa Risk Capacity (ARC), African Guarantee Fund (AGF), the Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), African Solidarity Fund (FSA), African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE) and AfroChampions.
The delegation was led by the Chairman of AAMFI and President of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, who underscored the significance of AAMFI's establishment during President Al-Ghazouani's tenure as AU Chair. He also underscored the role of AAMFI in advancing Agenda 2063 as a rallying platform for financing trade and development in Africa, especially under a strained international financial architecture. Considering the 2024 AU theme; Educate an African fit for the 21st Century, the meeting explored ways the continent can build the capacity of its growing youthful population, and pledged to mobilise USD 2 billion to go towards vocational training and driving digital literacy, especially amongst the youth and women.
The Institutions, which collectively represented an aggregate balance sheet of over USD 75 billion affirmed their support for the financial sustainability of the African Union.
The Institutions also reaffirmed their support to the AU in fulfilling its role as a member of the G20 and pledged to put their full weight behind the continental body towards amplifying the African voice on critical global matters, such as climate action. In this regard, the Institutions acknowledged the unique needs and priorities of Africa on climate which should be advocated cohesively on global platforms such as COP29 and COP16.
H.E. Mohamed Ould Cheikh Al-Ghazouani welcomed the backing and commitment of the Institutions to Africa, in particular their resolve to finding “African Solutions to African Problems” (ASAP) while pursuing sustainable development. He endorsed the call by President Nana Akufo-Addo for African governments to invest a minimum of 30% of their sovereign reserves in African multilateral institutions as a means of strengthening these institutions to better serve the continent. Such undertaking will also allow the Institutions to mobilise concessional resources.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.
About Afreximbank:
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance, facilitate and promote intra and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative instruments 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 AfCFTA, Afreximbank has in partnership with the African Union Commission and AFCFTA Secretariat 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 Free Trade Agreement. The AFCFTA Secretariat and the Bank have created a USD 10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA.
At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at US$ 37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$ 6.1 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$ 104 billion between 2016 and 2023 through various interventions for the advancement of the continent. 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”).
For more information, visit: www.Afreximbank.com
Media contact:
Vincent Musumba
Media Relations Manager
Email: press@afreximbank.com
Tel : +20 2 24564100 /1/2/3
