By PHILIP UKPE
CAIRO, Egypt April 12, 2024 — The African-Export Import Bank has said that trade between Africa and the Caribbean will significantly reduce the continent’s debt profile.
The President of the bank, Professor Benedict Oramah, disclosed this during the signing of the Afreximbank Annual Meetings Host Country Agreement in The Bahamas.
The agreement will allow the 31st AAM2024 to be hosted in Nassau, Bahamas, from June 12 to 15, 2024.
Oramah said, “Two years ago, Afreximbank would not be talking of doing $2.4bn in the Caribbean. We are beginning to do transactions of that magnitude. Two years ago, African businesses wouldn’t even think of investing $1bn in the Caribbean.
“Today, our clients are taking up project investments of $1.5bn, which we are supporting. What we want to achieve is to say to ourselves that opportunities exist between Africa and the Caribbean.
“Africa is still a market for the Caribbeans and the Caribbean is a market for the Africans. I think we have achieved it. It can only expand and we can do a payment system here as we have done for the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) in Africa.
“As PAPSS begins to grow and double, nothing stops us from integrating the two payment systems and we pay for the trade of all Africa-Caribbean in our local currency.”
Oramah said trade between Africa and the Caribbean would also help “reduce Africa’s sovereign debt significantly.”
He said most of the foreign debts are used in financing infrastructure, which is services in foreign currency.
“In the general meeting, we hope that our shareholders will buy into the project even further and make it possible for us to expand our concessional finance window to be able to finance some projects in this area… like debt financing and to our capital to support our development within the African-Caribbean community,” the Afreximbank boss added.
NOTE: The African Export-Import Bank headquarters is in Cairo, Egypt, and it has branches in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Harare, Zimbabwe; Abuja, Nigeria; Kampala, Uganda; Yaoundé, Cameroon; and Bridgetown, Barbados.
