Cairo, 1 July 2022 – At their 134th Meeting held on June 13, 2022, the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has renewed their approval of a US$1 billion facility to operationalise the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Adjustment Funds. It also approved a Grant Funding in an amount of US$10 million to seed the Base Fund of the AfCFTA Adjustment Funds.
Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat were mandated by the AfCFTA Council of Trade Ministers and the African Union Heads of State and Government to establish and operationalise the AfCFTA Adjustment Funds, which consists of the Base Fund, the General Fund, and the Credit Fund.
The Base Fund will be used to mobilise grants to address tariff revenue losses and to support AfCFTA State Parties to implement the various protocols under the AfCFTA. Afreximbank Board also approved a grant funding in an amount of $10 million as seed funding to kick-start the establishment of the Base Fund. The General Fund will be used to mobilise concessional funding, while the Credit Fund will be used to mobilise commercial funding that will be used to support the public and private sector including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), youth and women to adjust to the new trading environment arising from the AfCFTA.
Professor Benedict Oramah, President, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, commented:
“Afreximbank is delighted to have been appointed the Fund Manager of the AfCFTA Adjustment Funds following the extensive collaborative work it has done with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Africa Union Commission during the past few years. The renewal of the US$1 billion facility and the US$10 million grant funding represents resounding entrustment by our Board of Directors of these efforts. These facilities will again be contributing to making a great idea a reality. We thank the AfCFTA Secretariat for the solid partnership that is bringing the aspirations of the AfCFTA within reach.”
The funding required under the Adjustment Funds is estimated at US$8-10 billion. The AfCFTA Adjustment Fund will be managed by Afreximbank, through its subsidiary, the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), in collaboration with the AfCFTA Secretariat.
“The endorsement by the Afreximbank Board brings the continent closer to operationalising the AfCFTA Adjustment Funds before the end of 2022. We urge other development partners and financial institutions to provide additional resources required under the Adjustment Funds to support the implementation of the AfCFTA”, said His Excellency, Mr. Wamkele Mene the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat.
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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. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has 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 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 2021, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at about US$25 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$4 billion. Afreximbank disbursed more than US$51 billion between 2016 and 2021. The Bank has ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com.
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About the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat
AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area since the formulation of the World Trade Organisation. It aims to bring together all 55 member states of the African Union, covering a market of more than 1.3 billion people, including a growing middle class and a combined gross domestic product of $3.4 trillion. It works towards several objectives, most importantly to create a single market for goods and services, having the potential to boost intra-African trade by 52.3 percent.
To find out more, please visit our website https://au-afcfta.org
Media Contact
Amadou Labba Sall: asall@afreximbank.com