Cairo, 01 Oct. 2013 – Investors who enter the African market through the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) stand to enjoy unique access to the economies of 37 countries across the continent, thanks to the Bank’s special reach, Jean-Louis Ekra, President the Bank, has said.
Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange last week during the Africainvestor Institutional Investment Summit in New York, Mr. Ekra said that, as the only African trade finance institution with multilateral status, Afreximbank enjoyed preferred creditor status in its member states. As a result, the Bank was able to transfer the corresponding benefits of that status to investors that it worked with.
He described the Bank as the leader in trade finance in Africa and said that, with total assets of $3.7 billion, it possessed a solid credit profile. In addition, the Bank’s Board of Directors and management consisted of experienced international bankers with sound market knowledge and integrity and with strong links to African governments, central banks and commercial banks. The Afreximbank staff pool was also composed of highly skilled and experienced professionals from some 10 African countries.
“The Bank is a profit-oriented institution that has consistently paid dividends to its shareholders since 1997,” he added. It has generated return on equity higher than 10 per cent over the last three years.
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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