Media Contact: Obi Emekekwue (oemekekwue@afreximbank.com; Tel. +202-2456-4238)
Addis Ababa, 22 June 2013 – The total assets of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) rose 612 per cent to $3.7 billion between 2003 and 2012, Bank President Jean-Louis Ekra told the Bank’s owners today as they held their Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
“Net Income also soared by 251 per cent during the period to hit $65 million. Shareholders’ funds were also significantly up to end 2012 at of $612 million, largely from retained earnings and accretion to reserves,” stated the President in his report to the Annual General Meeting, which was held in Addis Ababa.
“Efficiency measures were also good. Return on assets and return on equity averaged the 2003-2012 period at four per cent and 10 per cent respectively; cost/Income ratio and net interest margins also averaged the period at levels of 22 per cent and three per cent while non-performing loan (NPL) ratio remained quite below the industry level, averaging less than one per cent during the period,” said Mr. Ekra, who attributed the financial performance to solid internal controls and risk management introduced as the Bank grew.
For 2012, he said that the Bank’s total assets were up by 30 per cent, to reach $3.7 billion, when compared to 2011 while net income rose by 12 per cent and shareholders’ funds grew by 20 per cent. Return on Equity was 11.5 per cent and NPL ratio remained good at two per cent.
The President announced that the Bank’s Board had recommended a dividend payment of $14.6 million.
Earlier, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia welcomed the shareholders and pledged his country’s support for the Bank.
The Annual General Meeting subsequently approved resolutions noting and accepting the Bank’s annual report for 2012; the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2012; the dividend declaration for 2012; and the appointment of the external auditors for the 2013 financial year. It also elected Mr. Gamal Mohamed Abde-Aziz Negum, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, and Dr. Louis Kirangwa, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Uganda, to the Bank’s Board of Directors for Class A shareholders, where they will join Dr. Yerima Lawan Ngama, Minister of State for Finance of Nigeria, and Mr. Stefan Luis-Francois Nalletamby of African Development Bank.
In Class B, Mrs. Caroline Abel, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles, and Mr. John Panonetsy Mangundya, Group Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, were elected to join Mr. Jean-Marie Benoit Mani, National Director for Cameroon of the Central Bank of Central African States, and Mr. Victor-Jerome Nembelessini-Silue, former Director-General o f the National Investment Bank of Cote d’Ivoire.
The terms of the current Class C Directors, Mr. Anil Dua of Standard Chartered Bank, United Kingdom, and Mr. Liu Liange of the China Eximbank, and those of the two Independent Directors, Mr. Ronald Sibongiseni Ntuli of the Thelo Group of Companies, South Africa, and Mr. Franklin Hugh Kennedy, Chairman of TransAfrica Holdings Limited, were renewed.
Currently, seats four each are allocated to Classes A and B shareholders on the Bank’s Board of Directors and two each to Class C and independent shareholders. No seat is yet allocated to Class D shareholders, pending attainment of a subscription threshold of 10 per cent by that class.
——–
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. In 2012, the Bank approved credit facilities totalling $3.71 billion in support of African trade. AFREXIMBANK is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com