Cairo, 20 July 2022 – African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the renewal of its technical and financial support to the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA), an international non-profit organisation that aims to contribute to the emergence of young African leaders and enhance youth participation in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This renewed support for YALDA’s work builds on the successful launch of the ‘Umoja Africa Campaign – Youth Contributing to the Implementation of the AfCFTA’, which aims to empower young Africans to actively leverage off the AfCFTA and harness their collective power to build a more prosperous and inclusive Africa.
Launched in 2019, the Umoja Africa campaign has generated critical awareness of the AfCFTA and its tenets amongst young people. Afreximbank’s renewed support will further break down information asymmetry across the continent.
The 2022 campaign will further ensure young people’s participation in discussions with key stakeholders on how to successfully move forward with the implementation of the AfCFTA, while ensuring youth mainstreaming in all aspects of its realisation including policy engagements, cross-regional dialogues, and other forms of facilitating active participation of young people.
The campaign is expected to utilise various platforms to scale its message around the ability for young people to participate in the development and solidification of regional value-chains enhancing intra-Africa trade. By expanding the scope and reach of the campaign, YALDA seeks to ensure that the youth’s voice is amplified and appropriately represented in national and regional discourse regarding the AfCFTA.
Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, commented:“We are very satisfied with what we have achieved so far with YALDA. It is therefore only natural that we renew this strategic partnership to ensure effective and meaningful youth participation in the implementation of the AfCFTA.”
Matthews Mmopi, YALDA International Chairperson, commented:“On behalf of YALDA international, we are both humbled and thrilled to continue to grow our strategic partnership with Afreximbank to help foster cross-border youth entrepreneurship in Africa under the framework of the AfCFTA.”
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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 YALDA
YALDA is an international non-profit organization that was established by a group of African students studying at Harvard University in 2004. The organization’s mission is anchored on a strong desire to achieve development on the African continent not only through collaboration between university students and other youth but by also creating long-lasting networks between the young leaders and leading professionals worldwide. The organization recognizes, as part of its fundamental responsibilities, the need to groom African youth and position them to take up leadership positions within their respective African communities to enable them to find autochthonous solutions to the myriads of problems confronting the African continent. The organization also provides a rallying point for Africans in diaspora and those with an interest in Africa to leverage their enormous skills and wealth in bringing desired development to Africa and its people. YALDA’s official headquarters are located in Gaborone, Botswana and it has a presence in over 23 countries across the continent, the US and the UK. YALDA also holds a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Presently, YALDA actively collaborates and partners on initiatives with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), African Development Bank (AfDB), African Union (AU), United Nations Habitat and Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)—a programme of the United States State Department.
Media Contacts
Afreximbank
Amadou Labba Sall
Manager, Media Relations
Email: asall@afreximbank.com
Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA)
Head of External Media Publicity
Email: abinaidah.chaseba@yaldafrica.org
Cell: +260 976 845 196