Kigali, 20 March 2018: – The Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC) will enhance African private sector participation in trade and investment policy formulation and support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), said today in Kigali.
Speaking during an AfCFTA business breakfast on PAFTRAC, organized as part of the AfCFTA Business Forum to mark the signing of the agreement for the free trade area, Dr. Oramah said that PAFTRAC was an advocacy platform that would provide a framework to facilitate African private sector participation and engagement in trade and investment issues.
He noted that following the launch of the committee, under the auspices of the World Trade Organization and the African Development Bank (ADB) about a decade ago, Afreximbank had been requested to take the lead on the project.
Dr. Oramah welcomed the partners that had joined PAFTRAC and said that the relaunch of the Committee was aimed at supporting the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Earlier, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria and Patron of AfroChampions Initiative, which organized the breakfast, stressed the importance of intra-African trade in Africa’s economic development, highlighting the important contribution which the private sector could make in that process.
The breakfast featured a panel discussion by Kris Senanu, Managing Director, Enterprise Telkom, Kenya; Jean-Louis Billon, Chairman, SIFCA Group, Cote d’Ivoire; and Samba Bathily, CEO, ADS Group, Mali. Li Yong, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, made concluding remarks.
In addition to Afreximbank, PAFTRAC also has the International Trade Centre, the African Union Commission, ADB; the AfroChampions Initiative, the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Ecobank as partners.
The agreement for the AfCFTA is scheduled to be signed during an extraordinary Summit of African Heads of State taking place at the Kigali Convention Centre in Kigali tomorrow.
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Media Contact: Obi Emekekwue (oemekekwue@afreximbank.com; Tel. +202-2456-4238)
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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, it has approved more than $51 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $10.3 billion in 2016. Afreximbank had total assets of $11.7 billion as at 31 December 2016 and is rated BBB+ (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB- (Fitch). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com