Afreximbank President Meets Burkinabe President, Announces Support for Development of Cotton Value Chain in West Africa

Categories: Press Releases

Cairo, 12 June 2017 – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will explore ways to support the development of the cotton value chain across the West Africa region to connect cotton processing activities and proposed fabric production in Burkina with garment manufacturing plants the Bank is assisting to set up in the West Africa region, Bank President Dr. Benedict Oramah has announced in Cairo.

Speaking yesterday when Roche Marc Christian Kaboré, President of Burkina Faso, received him, Dr. Oramah said that Afreximbank planned to deploy a wide array of trade finance products and services to support the economic development of Burkina Faso, including lines of credit to local banks and financing for industrial parks, special economic zones and logistics parks, as part of its Intra-African Trade Strategy.

The Bank would also support increased trade exchanges between Burkina Faso and Egypt in line with discussions held between the Burkinabe delegation led by President Kaboré and the Egyptian public and private sectors during President Kabore’s visit to Cairo, continued Dr. Oramah.

According to him, Afreximbank’s $500 million Egypt-Africa Trade Promotion Programme, which was established to finance increased trade between Egypt and the rest of Africa, could be utilized for the purpose.

Earlier, President Kaboré commended Afreximbank for its technical contribution and financial commitment to Burkina Faso’s national development plan and said that the country was committed to deepening collaboration with the Bank.

Mr. Kabore said that Burkina Faso’s priorities included the creation of industrial zones, development of the aviation sector, construction of dry ports in two cities and development of cotton processing facilities.

During a visit to Ouagadougou in February, President Oramah announced that Afreximbank would arrange up to $1.5 billion in multi-sourced finance to support projects and initiatives under Burkina Faso’s five- year National Economic and Social Development Plan.

Contact Media: Fleur Tchibota (ftchibota@afreximbank.com; Tel. +202-2456-4260)