Afreximbank, ECIC launch $1bn programme for trade promotion

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa SOC Limited (ECIC) have launched a $1 billion financing programme to expand trade and investments between South Africa and the rest of Africa, a monitored report has said.

Benedict Oramah, the bank’s president made the pledge in Johannesburg, South Africa under the initiative tagged, South African-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme (SATIPP).

Oramah said the joint initiative would support businesses through capacity building and market information initiatives and help small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to join regional supply chains.

According to him, it will provide advisory services and guarantees to South African investors seeking trade and investment opportunities in African member countries of Afreximbank.
He added that the initiative will serve as a platform for the realisation of Afreximbank’s strategic objectives in line with its strategy, “Impact 2021: Africa Transformed.”

“The strategy prioritises intra-African trade, industrialisation and export manufacturing and it also aligns with South Africa’s strategic goal of expanding trade with the rest of Africa. Under the terms of SATIPP, Afreximbank and ECIC will work together to identify, prepare and appraise trade transactions and projects; explore co-financing and risk-sharing opportunities,” he said.
Kutoane Kutoane, chief executive officer of ECIC, said the aim was to enhance South Africa’s exporting capabilities by intensifying its mutually beneficial trade with the rest of the continent.

Afreximbank is the foremost pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade.

The bank, since 1994, has approved about $60 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $8.5 billion in 2017.

The bank is headquartered in Cairo had total assets of $11.9 billion as at 2017.