Lagos – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says Djibouti has formalised its membership of the bank’s establishment agreement.
In a statement on Wednesday in Lagos, the bank’s President, Dr Benedict Oramah, said that the ratification would enable Djibouti have access to the bank’s trade development opportunities.
He commended Djibouti for concluding the ratification of its accession to the agreement on record time.
“We believe that Djibouti has a strategic role in promoting intra-African trade and has the potential to become a hub for light manufacturing.
“The country’s strategic location is moving it towards becoming a key logistics hub for Africa,” Oramah said.
Besides, Oramah said Djibouti had entered into an agreement with the bank to finance and promote its industrial base for export manufacturing and development of trade-related infrastructure.
He said that under the terms, Afreximbank would assist Djibouti in mobilising human, technical and financial resources necessary for the country’s logistics, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.
According to Oramah, the assistance will strengthen Djibouti’s position as a gateway for trade for landlocked African economies.
President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh of Djibouti was quoted as saying that the bank’s assistance in export manufacturing, renewable energy and telecommunications constituted the country’s current development priorities.
The African Export-Import Bank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra and extra-African trade.
The Bank, with headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, 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 $41 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $6.2 billion in 2015.
Afreximbank had total assets of $9.4 billion as at April 30, 2016 and is rated BBB- by Fitch) and Baa2 by Moody’s.
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