Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has led a delegation from the Bank to discussions with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos.
The discussions, held at the headquarters of the NSE on 24 August, centred on opportunities for cooperation between the two institutions, with NSE CEO Oscar Onyema saying that the exchange was working with a number of other African stock exchanges to create a linked system to facilitate trading across countries.
Dr. Oramah said that Nigeria was Afreximbank’s largest market and that the Bank was working to expose its equity to African capital investors.
The discussions followed a meeting which Afreximbank held on 23 August with leading Nigerian investors to push for strong participation in the Bank’s $300 million equity offering, for which it is using depositary receipts backed by its Class “D” shares.
The depositary receipts, which will be listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and is being managed by SBM Asset Mangers as lead arranger, will open Afreximbank shareholding to the investor public and will mark the first time a supranational bank is issuing depositary receipts through an African stock exchange.
Afreximbank is aiming to raise between $100 million and $300 million through the depositary receipts issuance as part of its target to mobilise up to $1 billion in equity from new and existing investors over the next five years.
Also on the Afreximbank delegation were Kee Chong Li Kwong Wing, Chairman, SBM Group, which is the lead arranger for the depositary receipts; Chuka Eseka, CEO of Vetiva Capital Management Ltd., which is advising the Bank on the depositary receipts; Chris Oshiafi, CEO of Pan-African Capital, which is also an adviser to Afreximbank; Ibrahim Sagna, Director, Advisory and Capital Management Department, Afreximbank; Obi Emekekwue, Head of Communications, Afreximbank; Ekene Uzor, Special Assistant to the Afreximbank President; and Morciad Chaparira, of the Equity Mobilization Unit, Afreximbank.
Afreximbank President Dr. Benedict Oramah flanked by Oscar Onyema, CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, (Left), and Chuka Eseka, CEO of Vetiva Capital Management Ltd., during the meeting in Lagos.