LAGOS – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and others on Friday pledged 28.5 million dollars for anti-Ebola efforts in Africa
A statement by the Afreximbank said its President Jean-Louis Ekra announced the donations at a roundtable of the African Union (AU) with key African economic and business institutions in Addis Ababa.
It said that Ekra, who announced a contribution of one million dollars on behalf Afreximbank, said the aim was to create and support a funding mechanism to deal with the Ebola menace.
The statement said at the funds would boost efforts to equip, train and deploy African health workers to fight the disease.
It said the bank would also work with some of its key customers to encourage them to provide support services that aid the effort to tackle the Ebola crisis.
“For instance, based on discussions already initiated by Afreximbank, a number of African airlines have agreed to provide free seats to health workers travelling to affected countries to participate in the anti-Ebola efforts.
“It is the belief that the roundtable co-conveners will raise 30 million dollars in cash for immediate needs and to also to generate `in-kind’ donations in the form of capabilities, services and assets,” the statement said.
The roundtable was co-convened by the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and AfDB.
As at end of October, the virus had infected more than 13,700 people and killed over 4,900.
The 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 organisation and the Charter which governs its corporate structure and operations.
Since 1994, Afreximbank has approved almost 30 billion dollars in credit facilities for African businesses, including about 3.5 billion dollars in 2013.
Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo. (NAN)
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