Media Contact: Obi Emekekwue (oemekekwue@afreximbank.com; Tel. +202-2456-4238)
Addis Ababa, 19 June 2013 – Activities marking the 20th anniversary of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) began in Addis Ababa today with Bank President Jean-Louis Ekra saying that the only means through which Africa could benefit from its abundant natural resources was through processing and eventual joining of the global value chain.
In an address at the anniversary opening ceremony held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Mr. Ekra said that because many African countries had underdeveloped supply chains across many export industries and sectors, the continent continued to be predominantly an exporter of primary commodities which attracted lower values than processed goods.
“The net effect is a disconnect between prices paid by final consumers of processed African commodities and those received by African producers, because of higher margins at later stages of the product value chain,” added the President, citing the example of cocoa beans, which Africa produces 72 per cent of the world total but 90 per cent of the income from the end product goes to counterparties in the processing and consuming countries.
According to him, Africa has a significant share of the most in-demand commodities, but a high proportion of the benefits or values are delivered to foreign countries that process and add value to the African produce. Declaring open the celebrations, Mr. Sufian Ahmed, the Ethiopian Minister of Finance, had welcomed the participants by stressing the import role of Afreximbank in financing African trade and promoting integration within the African continent. He was joined by Ato Tadesse, State Minister of Industry of Ethiopia.
The anniversary activities will end with the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Bank on 22 June, and is also featuring two one-day seminars, a 20th anniversary celebratory event and investment forum. Prof. David Kaplan of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Rashmi Banga of the Integration and Cooperation Unit of UNCTAD, and Mr. Henok of Precise Consult International PLC, delivered the thematic presentations at the first one-day seminar on the theme, “Industry clusters and supply chains as prerequisites for sustainable development of African exports”.
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About Afreximbank:
The African Export Import Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade. Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Headquarters Agreement with Egypt, which connects the Establishment Agreement with the legal jurisdiction in which the Bank operates. In 2012, the Bank approved credit facilities totalling $3.71 billion in support of African trade. AFREXIMBANK is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com