The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has staked US$6 billion in development financing to strengthen Africa’s food security prospects which has faced severe challenges due to climatic changes heightened by geo-political conflicts, Oluranti Doherty, Director of Export Development at the Bank, said in Accra, Ghana.
Ms. Doherty, who was participating in a panel discussion on “Overcoming the challenges of food security for sustainable development in Africa” at the ongoing Afreximbank Annual meetings (AAM2023), said that the Bank had also released more than US$700 million to support the setting up of special economic zones (SEZs), industrial and agro parks in several of its member countries.
She said that with food insecurity constituting a major challenge to Africa’s economic independence and growth, Afreximbank was reinvigorating its approach to supporting the continent to achieve self-sufficiency in food production.
“At Afreximbank, we are firmly convinced that industrial parks and SEZs are critical tools the continent can deploy to fast-track its agricultural development, promote intra-African trade and facilitate export development,” she said. “This is a priority for the Bank as it remains pragmatic in providing workable solutions to challenges facing its member countries”.
Also speaking, Dr. Josefa Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development, called for the implementation of the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, which set a targeted approach to achieving the continent’s aim of food security and sustainability for economic growth and poverty reduction.
Noting that Africa boasted of abundant aquatic resources, over 60 per cent of uncultivated arable lands and a young population, Dr. Sacko said that what remained was the effective implementation of such policies as the Malabo Declaration.
She commended Afreximbank for the role it was playing to help make Africa a sustainable and food secure continent and expressed regret that, at the moment, 38 African countries were net importers of food. That situation called for urgent action from every player.
“We cannot be food secure in a conflict-filled environment,” said Dr. Sacko. “Let us silence guns all over Africa, implement already generated policies around sustainability for profitable agriculture and watch as the continent becomes the world’s food basket.”
Also participating in the panel were Hardy Pemhiwa, President and CEO of Cassava Technologies, and Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.
AAM2023, which ends on 21 June, is being attended by political and business leaders, bankers and other trade and trade finance practitioners from across Africa and beyond, including leaders of several member countries of the Caribbean Community.
About Afreximbank:
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade.
For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.
A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA.
At the end of 2022, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$31 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$5.2 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$86 billion between 2016 and 2022. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB).
Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”).
