Cairo, 06 December 2016 – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) today in Cairo signed a $200-million loan facility agreement with the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) to support the expansion of electricity generation and distribution in the country.
At a ceremony at the premises of the Egyptian Petroleum Ministry, Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said that the facility would also ensure uninterrupted supply of energy for Egypt’s industrial sector through the financing of import of oil and gas products.
Dr. Oramah said that facility was part of Afreximbank’s broad goal of supporting strategic sectors that could drive industrialization in Africa, noting that, over the last few years, the Bank had invested about $2 billion in energy generation and distribution in Egypt and in the export of energy products from Egypt to the rest of Africa.
Afreximbank’s support to Egypt’s energy sector was part of a broader strategic intervention in the country, continued the President, who stated that since it commenced operations in 1994, the Bank had approved more than $7 billion for Egyptian entities and had disbursed $5 billion. The Bank’s exposure to Egyptian entities currently stood at more than $4 billion, he added.
Afreximbank Executive Vice Presidents Denys Denya (left), Dr. George Elombi (centre), and Amr Kamel watch proceedings at the signing ceremony.
Referring to the $500-million Egypt-Africa Trade Promotion Programme launched by the Bank in January 2015 to facilitate trade and investment flows between Egypt and the rest of Africa, he announced that that programme had enabled Egyptian entities to access some markets in Africa and had supported an estimated aggregate of more than $1.5 billion of Egyptian exports to the rest of Africa.
Earlier, Tarek Elmolla, the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Wealth, said that the Afreximbank loan facility would complement the effort of the government in meeting the continuing needs for the development of the country.
He commended Afreximbank for its support and said that the government was building a new Egypt and required the support of all. It was currently developing the biggest gas discovery in the Mediterranean.
Also making statements were Hesham Okasha, Chairman of the National Bank of Egypt, and Zeinab Hashim, Chief Executive Officer of the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Capital, whose institutions are participating respectively as local operation bank for the transaction and as financial adviser to EGPC.
Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank (3rd right), Zeinab Hashim, Chief Executive Officer of the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Capital (4th rights), and Tarek Elmolla, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Wealth (5th right), pose with other guests after the signing ceremony.
Media Contact: Obi Emekekwue (oemekekwue@afreximbank.com; Tel. +202-2456-4238)
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About Afreximbank:
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations. Since 1994, it has approved more than $41 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $6.2 billion in 2015. Afreximbank had total assets of $9.4 billion as at 30 April 2016 and is rated BBB- (Fitch) and Baa2 (Moody’s). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com