(From left to right) Mr. Hossam Hamed, Chief Representative Officer, South Africa Office, NBE; Mr. Shahir Zaki, General Manager, International Financial Services Sector, NBE; Mr. Amr Kamel, Afreximbank‘s Executive Vice President in Charge of Business Development & Corporate Banking; Dr Christiane Abou-Lehaf, Senior Manager, International Cooperation, Afreximbank.
Cairo, 11 January 2022 – African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote trade and investment flows into Egypt. Under the MoU signed on 17 November 2021 in Durban at the Intra-African Trade Fair, the two institutions agreed to broaden and deepen their collaboration in the provision of products and services related to project preparation, project finance and asset-based finance, intra-Africa trade, export development finance, treasury, trade finance, syndication, financial advisory and digital platforms.
The agreement establishes a Joint Project Preparation Facility (JPPF) between the two institutions, a first-of-a-kind for an Egyptian commercial bank. The JPPF will support public and private sector investors to prepare projects in the following prioritized sectors: Energy, Transport & Logistics, Logistical Platforms such as Special Economic Zones / Industrial Parks, Manufacturing, Agro – Processing, Hospitality & Tourism, and Services in the ICT, Healthcare and Creative Economy.
In addition, the partnership aims to catalyse and advance the attainment of Egypt’s strategic objectives as espoused under the Sustainable Development Strategy Egypt Vision 2030, by creating quality jobs, enhancing competitiveness of the country’s economy, embedding economic resilience and facilitating market access within the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) context.
Mr. Amr Kamel, Afreximbank‘s Executive Vice President in Charge of Business Development & Corporate Banking, commented:
“The execution of this memorandum marks yet another remarkable milestone in our longstanding partnership with the National Bank of Egypt, Egypt’s largest commercial bank and a founding shareholder of Afreximbank. It is a multifaceted partnership that encompasses end-to-end financial solutions spanning from project conception, through to project implementation and project operations, underpinned by the provision of bespoke financial advisory services.
We are particularly thrilled about the traction garnered with the JPPF solution we pioneered. We aim to mainstream project preparation activities across the continent and complement member countries efforts to bridge infrastructure and investment gaps in a timely manner thereby fast tracking the operationalization of the AfCFTA.”
Hisham Okasha, NBE’s Chairman, stressed that signing the protocol with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) aims at strengthening relations, creating a framework for cooperation and coordinating efforts to support the public and private sectors. The protocol also targets identifying and preparing projects to be financed, providing the necessary financing for several investment projects undertaken by Egyptian businesses, and creating a favorable investment climate to help such businesses tap into the promising African market, he added. Access to advisory and training services and international transactions will be offered to these businesses under the protocol to provide the best success factors and capitalize on the huge investment opportunities in the African continent across the industrial, agricultural and energy sectors, Okasha explained. Being the largest bank in Egypt, NBE plays a key role in supporting start-ups and large businesses at the local, regional and international levels, NBE’s Chairman indicated. NBE’s active participation in this important Fair is driven by the Bank’s belief in the importance of economic and commercial cooperation with different countries and the wish to capitalize on the success of the Fair in 2018 which was hosted by Egypt.
Yehia Abo Elfotouh, National Bank of Egypt (NBE) Deputy Chairman, expressed his pleasure regarding the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) in order to achieve the banking goals in syndicated loans and financial consultancy. He pointed out that this success was the culmination of the efforts exerted by experts and teams; and came as a result of the fruitful and lasting NBE-Afreximbank strategic partnership.
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About Afreximbank
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. Afreximbank deploys 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. The Bank has a rich history of intervening in support of African countries in times of crisis. Through the Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) launched in April 2020, Afreximbank has disbursed more than US$6.5 billion in 2020 to help member countries manage the adverse impact of financial, economic, and health shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has completed the development of 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. Afreximbank is working with the AU and the AfCFTA Secretariat to develop an Adjustment Facility to support countries in effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of 2020, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at US$21.5 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$3.4 billion. Afreximbank disbursed more than US$42 billion between 2016 and 2020. The Bank has ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1) and Fitch (BBB-). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com.
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Amadou Labba Sall: asall@afreximbank.com