Libreville, 10 June 2014 – Demonstrating their strong support for the efforts to improve the Bank’s capitalization, shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have decided to reinvest $20.5 million, recommended by the Board of Directors as dividends, into the equity in the Bank.
The reinvestment of the proposed dividends was one of a series of decisions taken by the shareholders in Libreville on 7 June during their 21st General Meeting in order to help ensure that Afreximbank complies with the minimum capital adequacy ratio target of 20 per cent which it had set for itself.
The shareholders also approved a general capital increase of $500 million, with 31,068 shares on offer, and issued a mandate to the Board of Directors to work out the details of the capital increase and its implementation.
In addition, they approved the issuance of a hybrid capital for which they authorised that the terms and conditions be approved by the Board of Directors.
They also confirmed their awareness of the Management’s plan to greatly enhance the callable capital obligations of shareholders in a bid to bring an amount of $266 million of the Bank’s callable capital into the equity of the Bank.
Speaking on the decisions by the shareholders, Jean-Louis Ekra, President of the Bank, said that they reflected the strong confidence which the shareholders had in the Board and Management of the Bank.
According to him, such support was very symbolic at a time that the Bank needed to show that it had the full backing of its shareholders.
Earlier in his report to the shareholders, the President had announced that the total assets of the Bank had jumped by 19 per cent to $4.4 billion compared to its level of $3.7 billion in 2012.
The shareholders’ funds went from $178 million in 1999 to $707 million in 2013, he said, adding that Afreximbank’s financial strength had enabled it to make major impact on Africa’s trade and economic development.
“For instance, the largest aircraft acquisition financing mandate in Africa in the amount of about $2 billion granted by Kenya Airways in 2012 was fully executed through multiple award-winning structures, including one of only two US Exim-Backed bond structures ever to be implemented in Africa,” he said.
In his opening address, Marcelin Agaya, Vice Minister for the Economy of Gabon, had commended Afreximbank for its work in financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade and urged it to identify and strengthen corrective measures aimed at addressing Africa’s many challenges.
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About Afreximbank:
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. 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, Afreximbank has approved almost $30 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $3.5 billion in 2013. Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com