Cairo, 1 Aug. 2013 – The Republic of Congo has signed the instrument of accession to the Agreement Establishing the African Export-Import Bank, becoming the 35th African country to join the Bank.
Mr. Gilbert Ondongo, Senior Minister for Economy, Finance, Planning, Public Investment and Integration of the Republic of Congo, signed the instrument yesterday at a specially organized ceremony in Brazzaville, the national capital. He was joined at the ceremony by Mr. Jean-Louis Ekra, the President of the Bank.
Welcoming the decision by Republic of Congo to join the Bank, Mr. Ekra said that by signing the instrument of accession, the country was paving the way to enable it enjoy full access to the range of services, programmes and facilities available through the Bank.
In addition, with the accession, the Congolese private sector will also become eligible for the Bank’s programmes and facilities.
Under the terms of the 1993 Abidjan Agreement on the establishment of the Bank, countries that did not sign the Agreement before it entered into force, are required to issue an instrument of acceptance and accession and then to ratify the Establishment Agreement in order to fully activate their membership of the Bank.
Currently, the participating members of the Bank include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d ‘ Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania and Mauritius.
Others are Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Liberia and Seychelles.
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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 Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations. Since 1994, the Bank has approved more than $25 billion in credit facilities in support of African trade, including $3.71 billion in 2012. Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com