By Vivian Ihechu
The people of Africa and her Diaspora reverberate the Pan-African call on the need for Africa to unite in order to realise its renaissance.
One of the ways to realise this is to rededicate ourselves to the enduring Pan African vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena.”
As a result, Africa intends to transform the continent into the global powerhouse of the future aiming to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development, a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) was established in 1993 as a crisis management institution following the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s, with shareholders holding their first General Meeting in Abuja in October 1993.
Over the years, it has grown into Africa’s foremost regional integration bank, and is playing a critical role in supporting the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
In 2023, the bank clocks three decades, an important milestone in the life of any organisation.
To mark this significant milestone, the bank will host the 30th Annual Meetings of Afreximbank in Accra, Ghana, from June 18 to June 21, 2023.
It will mark the high point of the Bank’s year-long 30th anniversary celebrations, under the theme “Delivering the Vision. Building Prosperity for Africans”.
One of the most significant attributes of the 30th Afreximbank Annual Meetings and 30th Anniversary celebrations will be the bringing together on one platform, thousands of people, including African and Caribbean leaders and senior government officials, African, Caribbean and other policymakers, corporate leaders, bankers, academia and other thought leaders.
Addressing a hybrid media briefing on Friday ahead of the event in Ghana, President of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah, highlights the importance of the 30th meeting and achievements of the bank through the years.
Most significant is that the 30th anniversary celebration will be the first gathering of people “Global Africa’’.
“It will be the first meeting of Global Africa, as we call it, because it will be the first annual meeting of Afreximbank that we welcome our brothers and sisters from the Caribbean and diaspora as participating states of Afreximbank.
“This is following the decision by the Caribbean Community in 2022 to join Afreximbank, and use Afreximbank as a vehicle for integration of trade, investments and economic relations between Africa and the Caribbean.
“It will be a meeting of all Africans, not only geographic Africa but global Africa, stakeholders traversing Caribbean, Europe, America, Latin America, Asia, wherever you see Africans.
“We are proud we are doing this in the home country of the pan Africanists who led the cry for independence, not only independence on paper but independence of our minds from the colonial legacies we all inherited,’’ Oramah says.
“The Choice of Ghana as host of Afreximbank’s 30th anniversary was not a difficult one.
“Ghana is the birthplace of Pan Africanism. Its pioneer leader, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and successive leaders have shown unwavering commitment to the Pan African ideals which Afreximbank subscribes to fully.
“Also the recent successful year of return ushered in a new sense of belonging of oneness, irrespective of geographic boundaries.
“So Ghana has offered every African, wherever they may be, an umbrella, a home for themselves. And Afreximbank puts itself forward as an institution for all Africans, wherever they may be.’’
He says the choice of the theme, ““Delivering the Vision, Delivering Prosperity for Africans’’ is informed by the critical role the Afreximbank has played in the last 30 years to show support for intra African trade investment.
For instance, he said the bank’s role in procuring vaccines for COVID-19, is a testament to the vision of the bank’s founding fathers.
“In a moment of poly-crises where some parts of the world are becoming increasingly insular, it is Afreximbank and similar institutions that are beginning to stand up for the continent and provide the support that we need to weather the storms. ‘’
He calls for the celebration of African institutions adding that the meeting provides “ an opportunity to confront challenges and recommit Africans towards the attainment of the African vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful continent, driven by its citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena”.
He says Afreximbank supported the first ever pooled procurement by African Union Member States in an emergency, when it provided a two billion U.S. dollar financing toward the procurement of 220 million doses of Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
“And as the Ukraine Crisis rages, your bank has also stepped up and already disbursed over five billion U.S. dollars towards the procurement of food, fertiliser and grains by Member States and businesses. ‘’
Also, by supporting the development of first class health and medical care facilities across the value chain, Afreximbank intends to promote trade in health and medical services within Africa.
Nigeria alongside Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania, are shortlisted for consideration as potential host countries for the first Centre of Excellence.
“The Centre of Excellence initiative will make a significant contribution to the continent by helping meet the growing healthcare needs of Africans.
Oramah says it will also enhance service exports, promote employment and conserve foreign exchange.
The initiative supports Afreximbank’s mandate and the Bank’s strategic plan, IMPACT 2021, which seeks to promote the diversification of Africa’s exports and to support the development of world-class health facilities in Africa.
On Dec. 7, 2021, Afreximbank formally breaks ground for the construction of the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) Abuja.
The Centre aims to provide world class healthcare across the continent in long-term partnership with King’s College Hospital, London (KCH), the official clinical partner for the AMCE.
On Sept. 30, 2022, Afreximbank and the Government of Nigeria signed the hosting agreement for the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja.
The commissioning of the Centre is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2024.
Oramah highlights that working with UNECA, the AU and the AfCFTA Secretariat, the bank also created a pooled procurement platform called the Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX), that is helping African countries to procure grains, edible oils and fertilisers at a much reduced cost.
Oramah also discloses that the bank is the largest financer of the over $19 billion Dangote Refinery, the world’s biggest refinery of its type.
“Delivering the Vision, Delivering Prosperity for Africans.
“We are proud to have contributed very strongly to the Dangote Refinery that will be opening on the May 22nd.
“ The Dangote Refinery is one of the largest heavy industries ever done on the continent because it is about $19 billion.
“We are the largest financiers of that project.
“We are also helping to develop export-trading companies to create access to market. We are also making sure that whatever we do support the growth of regional supply trade.”
Again, Afreximbank on Dec. 21, 2022, opened the first African Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC) in Ogun State, Nigeria, as part of its initiative to develop world-class quality assurance centres across Africa.
The initiative is geared toward ensuring that Made-in-Africa products comply with international standards and technical regulations in order to promote exports and facilitate intra and extra-African trade.
The AQAC has the capacity to offer testing and certification of products for both export and domestic consumption.
Its laboratories and modern instruments offer the requisite testing services, including physical and chemical testing, contaminant analysis (such as pesticides and heavy metals), microbiological testing, water analysis, soil analysis, plant analysis and organic substrate analysis.
The centre also offers inspection and training services, covering the food and agricultural value chain to transfer know-how and improve technical capacities in the conformity assessment field in Nigeria and West Africa.
“ The Ogun State AQAC will help Nigeria and neighbouring countries in West and Central Africa to boost their exports and gain access to global and regional markets.
“ It will also help to set high standards in product packaging and branding and attract investment in these spin-off activities.
“These activities will help to improve the quality of life, create jobs and promote export diversification.’’
Asides financing industries, Oramah says Afreximbank also ensures financial stability in Africa by enabling African operators in the financial system to acquire many of the international banks in the continent.
“Under a strategy that Afreximbank is implementing, we are making sure that these banks are acquired by African financial institutions because that is the only way to bring stability to our financial system.
“A situation where our banks are dominated by foreign owned institutions is not all that healthy.
“ While we welcome foreign investors, Africans should own the majority of African banks if you want to avoid instability.”
On energy financing and the need to protect the environment, he says: “The issue of climate is important.
“ But Africa and Africans are more of victims than contributors to the problem. We do not generate the carbon that is causing all these things.
“ Young people going to school in our villages are studying with kerosene lamps. Will you tell a child to switch off the kerosene lamp in order to be energy efficient?
“We think that the emphasis for us will be on adaptation. That is where the risks are for us.
“We must put pressure on those who contribute most of the carbon to reduce their carbon emission.’’
Oramah says Afreximbank is helping African economies to manage the exodus of international banks by financing African owned financial institutions to acquire those banks, helping to build a strong interconnected African financial system.
“ We are re-creating our banking systems so that they can serve Africa better.’’
He also harps on the bank’s continued leadership and commitment toward working closely with African leaders and institutions to pursue the goals of economic integration, industrialisation and improved trade,
Concluding, Oramah affirms that Afreximbank puts itself forward as a bank for all Africans wherever they may be.
“It is obvious that those founding fathers of the bank, who made the decision to set up the bank literally saw vision.
“If there wasn’t an Afreximbank , I wonder how Africa will have to stand up and say they were able to acquire the COVID-19 vaccine that the continent to acquire
“And in multi crises world we are seeing today, where we see one crisis to the other, many parts of the world are becoming insolvent.
“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary, we also look to the importance of celebrating our own institutions, in the journey we started when we fought for independence.
“Afreximbank has been able to stand up and provide the support that we need to cross the line and help one another weather the storm,’’ he affirms.
In shaping the narrative about Africa, there is need to tell the African journey with the intention to address the needs of Africans, as adopted in our shared “Agenda 2063: the Africa We Want.”
