Africa Finance Corporation secures $300m loan facility from CEXIM to facilitate trade finance in Africa

Cynthia Ezekwe

Pan-African multilateral development financial institution,Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), has signed a $300 million loan facility agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM), to support trade finance and investment in Africa.

The agreement, signed on the sidelines of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Annual meetings in Egypt, is poised to drive increased trade finance and investment across the African continent, fostering economic growth and development.

The 3-year $300 million loan facility will provide critical financing to support trade finance and investment in Africa, further facilitating the flow of goods and services between Africa and China.

Through the partnership between AFC and CEXIM, Africa’s infrastructure challenges can be addressed more efficiently. The need for regional institutions to collaborate and bring transparency, answerability, and focus is critical to ensure that global standards of governance and sustainability are met.

Commenting on the partnership, Sanjeev Gupta, board member and head of financial services for Africa Finance Corporation,described the partnership with CEXIM as a significant milestone for AFC as it continues to expand its footprint in the Asian capital markets.

Gupta added that the development significantly increases AFC’s capacity to provide trade finance solutions on the continent, promoting international trade and economic diversification while reinforcing the strong economic ties between Africa and China.’

On his part, Wencai Zhang, vice president of CEXIM, noted that in the past few years, CEXIM has provided loans to AFC to enhance the bilateral trade and investment between China and Africa.

According to him,this new project has elevated the organisation’s bilateral cooperation to a new level and will further enhance China-Africa trade and economic cooperation through the financial support of our two institutions.