Afreximbank - The African Mirror

Jun

2023

Calls to shift intra-African trade to local currencies intensify as consensus build

AFREXIMBANK is set to expand a local currency trade initiative, the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System or PAPSS, beyond its early adopters in order to provide greater financial autonomy to African traders. This follows the successful pilot of PAPSS, billed as a project to advance intra-continental commerce transactions in local currencies, in nine countries. Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah, speaking at the 30th anniversary of Afreximbank in Accra, announced that the roll-out of PAPSS would enable the conversion of all African and Caribbean currencies on the continent. "Very soon, we will be able to domesticate all intra-Africa payments and extend the…

May

2023

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

UN, Africa bank work to ease Russian grain, fertilizer exports -UN official

NEWS

THE United Nations is working with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to create a platform to help process transactions for Russian exports of grain and fertilizer to Africa, the top U.N. trade official told Reuters on Wednesday. An agreement struck in July last year requires the U.N. to help Russia overcome any obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports for three years. It was reached at the same time as a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of food and fertilizer from Ukraine following Russia's February 2022 invasion. The deals were intended to ease a global goods crisis that the United…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Russia/Ukraine: Africa looks to reduce impact of war

NEWS

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY THE African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has unlocked a 4 billion US dollars credit line to help the economies and businesses blunt the knock-on effect of the war, as the continent braces for a longer conflict. Afreximbank approved the launch of the Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa (UKAFPA) on 31 March 2022, as states across the continent ponder a fiscal response to tame inflationary pressures. UKAFPA is designed to help countries to meet immediate import price increases pending domestic demand adjustments and commodity export revenue stabilisation. Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa’s $4-billion cushion against Ukraine war shocks

NEWS

AFREXIMBANK said it had set up a $4 billion trade finance programme to cushion economies and businesses on the continent against shocks arising from the war in Ukraine, that demand for financing already exceeds the amount. Cairo-headquartered Afreximbank said its Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa was approved by its board at the end of March. It said the fund would extend to areas such as oil and metals buy-back financing, commodity export revenue stabilisation and tourism revenue deficit financing. "Given the importance of both Russia and Ukraine as sources of crude oil and gas, raw materials and…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Bank provides $200 million for vaccines

COVID-19

STANDARD Chartered Bank has revealed that it is providing $200 million in not-for-profit funding to the African Export-Import Bank's (Afreximbank) COVID-19 vaccine procurement framework for Africa. The facility is part of Afreximbank's Advance Procurement Commitment framework, under which it has provided a $2 billion guarantee to manufacturers to secure access to vaccine doses for African nations, Standard Chartered said in a statement. "The speed of vaccine rollout is not only a healthcare issue but is increasingly a differentiator of near-term, post-pandemic economic recovery for African nations," said Simon Cooper, Standard Chartered's Chief Executive for Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking. Africa…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE – COVID-19 shots to cost $3 to $10 in Africa

COVID-19

DAVID LEWIS and ALEXANDER WINNING AFRICAN countries will pay between $3 and $10 per vaccine dose to access 270 million COVID-19 shots secured this month by the African Union (AU), according to a draft briefing on the plan prepared by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and provided to Reuters. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who serves as AU chair, said last week arrangements had been made with the bank to support member states who want access to vaccines. Countries can pay back the loans in instalments over five to seven years, the document showed. Afreximbank's press office declined to answer…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Africa needs about $9 billion for COVID-19 vaccines, access is big problem – Afreximbank

NEWS

OMAR MOHAMMED AFRICA needs about $9 billion to finance enough of COVID-19 vaccines to halt the pandemic on the continent, but a bigger problem is accessing that supply amid the global race for doses, an African Export Import Bank official has said. Hippolyte Fofack, Afreximbank chief economist, told Reuters the Cairo-based bank and other development finance institutions are working with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to obtain vaccines for the novel coronavirus. But African nations cannot compete with wealthier governments that have secured huge supplies of inoculations, he said. "If the supply of COVID-19 vaccines is…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Afreximbank ready to raise up to $5 bln for COVID-19 vaccines for Africa – CDC head

BUSINESS

DAVID LEWIS and GIULIA PARAVICINI THE African Export-Import Bank is ready to raise up to $5 billion to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for African countries, according to the head of the continent's disease control body. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Africa needs to be pro-active in the race to secure vaccines for the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 41 million people globally. COVAX, a global COVID-19 vaccine allocation plan co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), will only be able to secure shots for less than 10% of the continent's…