Export Development Canada (EDC) today announced that it has provided a USD 30 million five-year line of credit to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the proceeds of which will be used to provide financing to African companies procuring Canadian goods or services.

About 80 senior bankers and officers of financial institutions from countries across Africa have completed a specialized training programme in structured trade finance organized by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Cairo to equip them to deal with risks in financing trade under a difficult politico-economic environment and changing trade counterparties.

To compete with the rest of the world, Africa must resolve its skills gap and overcome its technical limitations, Mona Omar, the Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs of Egypt, said in Cairo today.

In pursuit of its mandate to promote and finance trade in Africa, the African Export-Import Bank has began accepting applications from African university students for slots in its internship programme scheduled to run from this December to May 2013.

The Starwood Hotels and Resorts Group today in Lagos launched the development of its first Luxury Collection brand in the ECOWAS region, the Le Meridien Grand Towers Hotel project, sponsored by Robert Dyson and Diket, Ltd. (RDD).

Closer cooperation among developing countries will not only be a driving force for their own development, but also fuel global growth, international economists told a seminar in Beijing on Wednesday during the ongoing shareholders’ meeting of the African Export-Import Bank. Richard Kozul-Wright, an economist at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said the

With more than $126 billion in trade with Africa, China has surpassed the United States to become the continent’s largest trade partner. The rank is reflected in the annual meeting of shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank now under way in Beijing. Jean-Louis Ekra, chairman and president of Afreximbank, told a press conference on Monday

The shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank have selected China to be the first non-African host of their general meeting, which opens in Beijing on July 10. Also known as Afreximbank, the lending institution will have a seven-day meeting that is expected to serve as a platform for African countries to better understand China, exchange

The African Capacity Building Foundation and Afrexim have signed a partnership agreement to support intra-African trade.

Standard Bank (Aa2/BBB+) will sign its three year credit facility on May 22. The bank launched the dollar denominated loan at $750m with a 200bp margin before fees. When the deal was launched in March, a funding official suggested that the margin could be high enough for Standard Bank to attract commitments of up to $1.25bn.

The bank came to the market at the end of January looking for a dual currency loan, split between a $180m tranche and a €92m ($120m) piece, to refinance a $300m facility. Both tranches pay margins of 225bp.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (“First Quantum” or the “Company” or “FQM”, TSX Symbol “FM”, LSE Symbol “FQM”) is pleased to announce the signing of a US$1 billion senior term and revolving facility agreement for Kansanshi Mining PLC, holder of First Quantum’s 80% owned Kansanshi copper-gold project in Zambia. The five year Facility featuring flexible drawing