Cairo, 7 December 2015: – Côte d’Ivoire today in Cairo presented the formal instrument of ratification to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for the establishment of the Bank’s Branch Office in Abidjan, commending the strategic choice made by the Bank in selecting Abidjan as the site for the Branch Office which serves Francophone West Africa.
Eugène Allou Allou, Ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire to Egypt, who presented the instrument to Afreximbank President Dr. Benedict Oramah, indicated that the Ivorian authorities finalised the ratification process on 3 June 2015 with the formal assent given by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
The Afreximbank Abidjan Branch Office began operations in May following the signing of the Establishment Agreement between the Bank and the Ivorian authorities and the acceptance of the attached obligations and responsibilities by the Ivorian authorities but the formal ratification of the agreement was a requirement for the agreement to become fully effective.
Dr. Oramah, who noted that the ratification gave full legal effect to the Branch Office Agreement, described the office as a very important instrument in implementing Afreximbank’s mandate of promoting intra-African trade and supporting the development of value-added exports from Africa.
According to him, Abidjan is the natural choice for the Branch Office because of the significant contribution made by Cote d’Ivoire toward the establishment of the Bank and as a result of the country’s continuing role as a major hub for regional and intra-African trade in the Francophone region.
Cote d’Ivoire served as the headquarters of Francophone West Africa, he noted, adding that the country, more than any other country in Africa, had demonstrated that it could achieve development through plantation agriculture, having successfully emerged as the world’s largest producer of cocoa and also having recently taken over as the world’s largest exporter of cashew nuts.
Côte d’Ivoire was also a manufacturing hub and served as a gateway to many landlocked countries in the region, he said, pledging that the Afreximbank would use the new Branch Office to champion the principal objectives for which the Bank was established.
The Abidjan Branch Office was set up to handle the Bank’s marketing, business development, relationship management, loan structuring, loan monitoring and agency functions in the Francophone West Africa area, in that regard, helping to manage the rapid increase in the Bank’s activities in the ECOWAS region which, at $1.817 billion, accounts for 52 per cent of the Bank’s annual business.
The establishment of the Branch Office follows the decision approved by the Board of Directors during the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Afreximbank in Libreville in June 2014 to establish new branch offices to serve Francophone West Africa and East Africa. The East Africa office, located in Nairobi, is expected to become operational shortly. Afreximbank’s two other branch offices are located in Abuja and Harare.
Afreximbank’s engagement in Cote d’Ivoire has included cumulative approvals of $2.518 billion since 1994 in support of transactions in the oil and gas, agriculture, financial services, transport and tourism infrastructure sectors.
Media Contact: Fleur Tchibota (ftchibota@afreximbank.com Tel. +202-2456-4260)
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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 $35 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $4.5 billion in 2014. Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com