With the prevalent dependency of African economies on external supply of fertilizers and grains and up to 30 per cent of cereals imported from Russia, ensuring that critical trade flows continue uninhibited, remains the priority of Afreximbank and its African member states, the President/Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Prof. Benedict Oramah has said.
The lingering global food security challenges and the critical role trade with Russia plays in guaranteeing Africa’s food security was at the core of discussions for Afreximbank at the just concluded second Russia African Economic and Humanitarian forum which held at St. Petersburg.
Addressing the summit, a statement quoted Oramah to have said in his remarks: “Afreximbank is working with the African Union Commission, the United Nations System and Russian partners to use the Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX) e-commerce platform to facilitate seamless flow of goods and payments in any currencies chosen by sellers and buyers in a transparent manner.
“The platform pools Africa’s demand for grains and fertilizers, and the bank has placed an aggregate credit limit of $3 billion to support these transactions.
“Beyond the food security priorities and in line with the Bank’s mandate, Afreximbank and the Russian Export Centre are collaborating to promote trade and investments in other critical sectors, with focus placed on activities that will help integrate the African economy and advance the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA),” continued the President.
Afreximbank offers a portfolio of solutions to support investments in agriculture, industrial parks and critical infrastructure, in partnership with the Russian Export Centre, and supports African investors seeking to explore opportunities in Russia.
The statement noted that trade flows between Africa and Russia reached almost $20 billion in the four years to 2021, as against about $10 billion in 2015, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and other significant global crises, bringing it closer to the target of $40 billion by 2026.
It was expected that the trade flows could double over the next four years.
The first Russia-Africa Economic Forum held in Sochi in 2019, had committed to systematically pursue stronger trade and investment ties between Russia and Africa and to reset socio-economic relations, in addition to moving the two-way trade to $40 billion by 2026.
The two-day Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Summit was attended by top political and business leaders from Russia and Africa.
Afreximbank is a pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade.
For 30 years, the bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.
“A stalwart supporter of the AfCFTA, Afreximbank had launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA.
“Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a $10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA.
“At the end of 2022, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over $31 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to $5.2 billion. The bank disbursed more than $86 billion between 2016 and 2022,” the statement added.
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