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Tag: Intra-African Trade Bank

  • Algeria signs Hosting Agreement for Intra-African Trade Fair 2025

    Algeria signs Hosting Agreement for Intra-African Trade Fair 2025

    …The IATF is now a foremost event in the African calendar of economic, social, trade and even policy events

    The Host Agreement Signing Ceremony for the Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 (IATF2025) took place in Algiers on 15 April 2024. The Ceremony, which was hosted by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat, and the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, paves the way for the fourth edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair to take place from 4 – 10 September 2025 in Algiers, Algeria.

    H.E. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairperson of the IATF2025 Advisory Council and Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, extolled the Intra-African Trade Fair as the go-to trade and investment event on the African continent. He added that “the IATF2025 Hosting Agreement represents more than just a contractual agreement; rather it symbolises a collective responsibility of the partners for excellence and innovation in continuing the tradition of the Intra-African Trade Fair, which has become established as the AfCFTA Marketplace and the go-to trade and investment event on the African continent. The IATF is now a foremost event in the African calendar of economic, social, trade and even policy events. It is in the passionate pursuit of these goals that Afreximbank in collaboration with the African Union Commission and AfCFTA Secretariat are championing the noble cause of changing the socioeconomic landscape of Africa by devising progressive initiatives aimed at promoting intra-African trade and continental integration.”

    Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, Afreximbank, said: “The Intra-African Trade Fair opens alternate routes for African trade. It has become the platform for actualising the AfCFTA vision. It expands and deepens knowledge of the continent’s trading environment and enhances the industrial capacity of African economies. Ultimately, IATF has become the engine accelerating trade and business flows within the continent. The last three fairs have generated combined trade and investment deals of no less than US$120 billion. To one who wonders what the US$120 billion represents, African businesses have found buyers in new markets across Africa, industries have found new sources of raw materials, investment and capital goods, government-to-government deals in critical sectors such as agriculture and agro-processing have been forged, and African contractors have won major government projects.” She also expressed her gratitude to the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria for their unwavering commitment and support for the Intra-African Trade Fair.

    A statement delivered on behalf of H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, AfCFTA Secretariat described the importance of the Intra-African Trade Fair as “our strategic response to the challenge of trade information scarcity, aiming to enhance intra-African trade and investments, all without the need for outside help. And it serves as a symbol of hope and opportunity, breaking down conventional trade and investment barriers to unite the diverse yet cohesive African identity.“

    A statement delivered on behalf of H.E. Ambassador Albert Muchanga, African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, highlighted that other regions of the world have proved that “trade can be a powerful tool for economic growth. Whilst trade was able to lift millions out of poverty in those regions, the same has not reflected in Africa’s experience. Trade amongst African countries is low. The AfCFTA was designed to change this story. Not only was it meant to boost Intra African trade, but it was meant to deal with Africa’s perennial challenges of job creation, high levels of poverty and very low levels of manufacturing and industrial base. It was designed to create a predictable legal framework for trade and investment, hence offering more guarantees to investors thereby bringing certainty and predictability to the African trading environment.”

    In his Closing Remarks, Jean-Louis Ekra, Former President of Afreximbank and Deputy Chairperson of the IATF2025 Advisory Council, praised “the power of African unity, shared purpose, and collective action towards a path taken to promote intra-African trade and investment. It is through our combined efforts that we can drive positive change, foster innovation, and create a better future for all the inhabitants of the African continent.”

    The Ceremony was also attended by public and private sector institutions, African diplomatic corps, financial institutions, and trade and industry associations, and is intended to maximise awareness surrounding the upcoming IATF2025.

    Attendees at the Signing Ceremony also had the opportunity to visit the Algerian Company of Fairs and Exports (SAFEX), which will be the venue for IATF2025.

    The Intra-African Trade Fair is the African continent’s premier trade and investment event and provides a unique opportunity for exhibitors to showcase their goods and services, engage in Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) exchanges, network, establish new business contacts and conclude business deals. The event also gives delegates the opportunity to hear actionable insights from an array of experts on a wide range of trade and investment topics and opportunities at the IATF Trade and Investment Forum. The event also offers opportunities for participants from the Diaspora, creative industries including gastronomy and the culinary arts, to attend and showcase their goods, services and expertise. In addition, there will be training workshops covering exporting, standards and marketing.

    Attendees at the IATF include businesses, buyers, sellers, traders and investors, captains of industry, senior government ministers, trade finance and advisory specialists, trade and economic organisations, senior executives from corporates and multinationals, innovative entrepreneurs and the media in one venue.  

    The highly successful third edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) took place in Cairo, Egypt, from 9 – 15 November 2023, and attracted over 28,000 conference delegates, trade visitors and media, had 1,939 exhibitors from 130 countries, and witnessed US$43.8 billion of trade and investment deals being concluded.

  • Africa: Afreximbank’s Kanayo Awani Receives African Diaspora Advisory Board Global Award

    Africa: Afreximbank’s Kanayo Awani Receives African Diaspora Advisory Board Global Award

    …the Global Woman Award celebrates exceptional women of African descent who have made significant contributions to global communities

    Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank at the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has received the African Diaspora Advisory Board (ADAB) Global Woman Award in Washington, D.C., for her work in promoting intra-African trade.

    In a citation presented at the ceremony, Mrs. Awani was recognised for her dedication, visionary leadership, and remarkable impact in promoting intra-African trade.

    The Global Woman Award celebrates exceptional women of African descent who have made significant contributions to global communities. The Award honours women’s outstanding achievements, leadership, and positive impact on various spheres in fostering empowerment and inspiration within the African diaspora and beyond. It serves as a testament to the resilience, innovation, and influence of the remarkable women on a global scale.

    Accepting the award, Mrs. Awani paid tribute to the spirit of unrelenting commitment to Africa which underpinned Afreximbank’s work. She referred to their conviction at the Bank that: “Intra-African trade and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) offers Africa the opportunity to reverse engineer the colonial strategy that fragmented our economies and resigned Africa to the periphery of the global economy”.

    She lamented that despite Africa’s enormous riches, the continent exported jobs and relinquished its development ambitions to others, stating that Afreximbank was committed to rectifying that situation and ensuring that Africa took its development ambitions into its own hands.

    “We recognize that there is no reason why a continent that accounts for 18 per cent of the world’s population should only account for three per cent of global trade; or why a continent which accounts for over US$ 1 trillion dollars in trade, trades so little with itself; or why the payment for goods and services among African neighbours must be routed through banks outside our continent”, she added.

    For that reason, Afreximbank was aggressively supporting intra-African trade and implementation of the AfCFTA, disbursing about US$40 billion in support of trade and investments since 2016.

    Recognising that a unified global African community held the key to uplifting and dignifying individuals of African descent across the globe and that “our interconnectedness, both commercially and culturally, as a global African family, will play a pivotal role in addressing the unique challenges we face in our collective development journey”, Afreximbank had purposefully broadened its understanding of intra-African trade to encompass not only commerce between African nations but also trade involving Africans worldwide,” she said.

    As part of its Diaspora strategy, the Bank has launched the Afreximbank Africa Diaspora Center, in partnership with the Africa Center in New York. 11 Caribbean Community Member States have joined the Bank as Participating Member States, and the Bank has opened in Barbados, its regional office for the Caribbean.

    Stating that much more still needed to be done to fully harness the power of Global African trade, Mrs. Awani called for continued advocacy for policies that support entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment, adding that women must be empowered to actively participate in trade to ensure that they had equal access to resources and opportunities.

    In another development, Mrs. Awani has also received the “Titan of Industry” by Canada-based African Union Sixth Region Global (AU6RG) for her “exceptional contributions and groundbreaking achievements as an Executive Vice President of Afreximbank”.

    In a citation at the event, Mrs. Awani’s remarkable leadership was lauded as being instrumental in driving economic development initiatives that have propelled Afreximbank to new heights and positively impacted the broader global economic landscape.

  • Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) exceeds targets with recorded deals worth up to US$43.8 billion

    Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) exceeds targets with recorded deals worth up to US$43.8 billion

    African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announces that the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) held in Cairo from 9 to 15 November witnessed the conclusion of business deals and transactions valued at US$43.8 billion.

    In final tallies released in Cairo, the organisers of the continental event said that the amount represented the value of 426 deals concluded in 21 sectors covering 52 countries. At a press conference to announce the results, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President (Intra-African Trade Bank) at Afreximbank, also announced that 130 countries participated in the trade fair, which attracted 1,939 exhibitors and 28,282 participants who attended physically and through the IATF virtual platform.

    One of the notable transactions included the Export Agriculture for Food Security Framework executed by several African countries (as Origin Countries) and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms, Arise IIP (as Anchor Investor) to which Afreximbank committed US$2 billion to boost production, processing, and intra-African trade in agricultural products and to provide African farmers and agribusinesses with opportunities to access larger markets across the continent.

    Mrs. Awani also said that the IATF had successfully established itself as the premier trade and investment event in Africa, with the unique capacity to increase intra-African trade and investment, especially in the context of implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.

    “Building on the successes of IATF2018 and IATF2021, I am proud to say that the buzz and energy generated by IATF2023 will be felt across Africa and beyond for many years to come. Together, we have explored new possibilities and opened new doors for a brighter future for our continent” she added.

    IATF2023 kicked off on 9 November and included an official opening ceremony, a Presidential Summit which was addressed by President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt, a Trade and Investment Forum, the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), an African Auto Forum, AU Youth Entrepreneurship Programme, a Sub-Sovereigns Conference, a Diaspora Summit, an African Industrialization Week and an African Tourism Sustainability and Investment Forum. A series of side events were also held as part of the trade fair.

    The next edition of the IATF will be hosted in 2025 by Algeria.

  • Afreximbank announces $1-billion African Film Fund

    Afreximbank announces $1-billion African Film Fund

    ..Mrs. Awani said that the fund would oversee film financing, co-finance with large studios, finance African filmmakers and finance producers and directors of film projects across the continent

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is working on the establishment of a $1-billion African Film Fund to be launched in 2024 to support the continent’s film industry, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, at Afreximbank, announced in Cairo today.

    Addressing the opening of the 2023 CANEX Summit held as part of the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023), Mrs. Awani said that the fund would oversee film financing, co-finance with large studios, finance African filmmakers and finance producers and directors of film projects across the continent.

    She noted that during CANEX WKND 2022, the Bank had increased the financing it was making available to the creative sector from US$500 million to US$1 billion and that the Bank currently had a pipeline of over US$600 million in film, music, visual arts, fashion, and sports deal.

    “The very first film we financed recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival,” Mrs. Awani said, adding, “The Bank has several in the pipeline from Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, which should be on streaming platforms in 2024.”

    Acknowledging that the film and audiovisual industries in Africa accounted for US$5 billion of the continent’s GDP and employed an estimated five million people, with the potential to create over 20 million jobs and generate US$20 billion in revenues annually, Mrs. Awani noted that the sector faced several challenges, including limited access to financing and copyright infringement due to weak copyright laws, enforcement mechanisms and a lack of awareness.

    The sector was also confronted with infrastructure and technology gaps, lack of capacity and shortage of skilled professionals and limited market access and international exposure, as a result of which African creative and cultural products often struggle to gain exposure and access to international markets.

    Earlier, Boris Kodjoe, a celebrity actor of Ghanaian descent, highlighted how the creativity of Africans had influenced various aspects of modern life, including music, fashion, art, design, social consciousness, business, sports, film and TV. He said that the exploitation of black creativity by the West had had lasting effects and that, despite admiration of black excellence, Africa still faced branding challenges due to external perception fuelled by the traditional media’s depiction of poverty, famine, civil wars and migration on the continent.

    Mr. Kodjoe said that the world craved culturally specific global content and that Africa was a key player in meeting that demand. With the continent’s young population and high connectivity, studios, networks, promoters and brands were investing in solutions to reach diverse audiences. Films and TV shows with diversity performed better than others by 30 per cent and Afrobeats was taking over global airwaves. By 2030, Africa was projected to produce up to 10 per cent of global creative goods export worth roughly $200 billion or four per cent of Africa’s GDP.

    Also speaking, H.E. Albert M. Muchanga, Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, said that the creative sector in Africa was rapidly growing and making a significant contribution to the inclusive growth and sustainable development of African economies.

    “I reaffirm my belief that the African creative industry has huge potential to be a source of employment and revenue to create the Africa we want – revenue from intra-African trade as well as revenue from the rest of the world.”

    Ambassador Muchanga urged African nations to convert their vast potential into plans and projects that yield tangible results, stressing the need to also invest in protecting international property rights.

    CANEX is an Afreximbank initiative to support Africa and the African Diaspora’s creative and cultural industries by providing financing and non-financing instruments to boost growth. The seven-day CANEX Summit is intended to further develop conversations and provide additional business-to-business and business-to-government opportunities. It includes a fashion show featuring a range of bold and exciting designs from across Africa and the Diaspora and a CANEX Music Factory, hosted by renowned South African producer Oskido, which will provide songwriters and beat makers with the opportunity to record their work.

    Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme set up by Afreximbank seeks to facilitate the development and growth of the creative and cultural industries in Africa and the diaspora. The programme provides a range of financing and non-financing instruments and interventions aimed at supporting trade and investment in Africa’s creative sector.

    IATF2023, Africa’s largest trade and investment fair opened on 9th November and will run till 15th November 2023.

  • Afreximbank signs term sheet for US$40million pre-export facility for Johnvents Industries Limited

    Afreximbank signs term sheet for US$40million pre-export facility for Johnvents Industries Limited

    …The term sheet provides for the facility to be used to finance commodities that had been received into approved warehouses or storage sites, to be processed into finished products for the export market

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) today in Houston, United States, signed a term sheet for a US$40million pre-export facility in favour of Johnvents Industries Limited.

    The facility was signed on behalf of Afreximbank by Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, John Alamu, Chief Executive Officer, Johnvents Industries Limited, and Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Nigeria PLC, the local administrative agent.

    The term sheet provides for the facility to be used to finance commodities that had been received into approved warehouses or storage sites, to be processed into finished products for the export market.

    It further provides that the facility, which is an uncommitted revolving pre-export facility, could be availed to finance commodities in transit to the warehouse, with such financing supported by a standby letter of credit or guarantee posted by Fidelity Bank Nigeria PLC.

    The signing of the term sheet was part of activities organised to mark the Fidelity International Trade and Creative Connect hosted by Fidelity Bank Nigeria PLC to promote Nigeria’s value-added exports in the global marketplace.

  • Cairo Hosts Intra-African Trade Fair 2023 (IATF2023) Business Roadshow to Promote Trade between Egypt and Africa

    Cairo Hosts Intra-African Trade Fair 2023 (IATF2023) Business Roadshow to Promote Trade between Egypt and Africa

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the Ministry of Trade & Industry of Egypt hosted a high-level business roadshow, ahead of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2023) scheduled to hold on the 9th to 15th of November 2023 in Cairo, Egypt.

    Under the theme “Promoting Egypt-Africa Trade and Investment Under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), ‘IATF2023 Egypt High-Level Business Roadshow’ brought together captains of industry, the business community, high-level government officials, the diplomatic community, as well as executives and senior officials of Afreximbank, AUC and AfCFTA Secretariat to deliberate on how the IATF is playing an instrumental role in boosting and promoting trade and investment opportunities under the AfCFTA between Egypt and the rest of Africa.

    Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of IATF2023 Advisory Council and Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria said “we are here today to demonstrate and reaffirm that the third edition of the IATF will be happening here in this beautiful city of Cairo in November 2023. We urge the business community to take advantage of IATF2023 and use it to explore business opportunities. Opportunities are huge and limitless. IATF2023 is expected to be bigger and better than the previous two editions and the event is expected to attract more than 1,600 exhibitors; over 35,000 visitors, buyers and conference delegates from all 55 African countries, and the rest of the world; with more than US$43 Billion in trade and investment deals.”

    Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Afreximbank, said that the IATF was created to fast-track Africa’s economic integration through the AfCFTA. He added that “The biggest challenge on the continent is the lack of trade ad market information of what exists within the continent. This can be traced to the colonial era where Africa was divided into 55 domestic countries that had and continues to have very limited linkages with themselves. It created a situation where somebody in an African country knows more about what is happening in America, Europe and Asia than what is happening in a neighbouring country across the border. One way of dealing with this, is creating a platform like IATF, where Africans can gather to understand their markets, know themselves and understand more about the African countries. Egypt has been a major beneficiary of the IATF. At the first trade fair in 2018, which was held in Cairo, Egypt signed the largest share of deals out of the US$32 billion worth of trade and investment deals closed at the Trade Fair”.

    Ambassador Albert Muchanga, AU Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals regarding the low levels of trade in Africa said “in order to develop intra African trade, we need very efficient and cost-effective road infrastructure, railway, shipping lines, airlines, airports and payment systems and fundamentally we need to produce goods and services that can be traded.  Producing and trading in raw materials cannot be the basis for intra-African trade. We need to move towards manufacturing and agro-processing so that these, based on endowments across African countries can be the basis for intra-African trade.”

    Principal Communication Adviser, Ms. Grace Khoza representing the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat said “IATF is one platform that we believe creates an avenue through which Africans get to connect and know each other. Africans need to understand what products are produced in different regions of Africa that could be exported to other regions within Africa. Egypt being the second largest economy in Africa stands to benefit from immense opportunities presented by the IATF as an AfCFTA marketplace.

    H.E. Yahia El-Wathik, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry for the Arab Republic of Egypt, delivered remarks on behalf of H.E Hon. Eng. Ahmed Samir Minister of Trade and Industry and said: “IATF is becoming a prime event on the trade and economic level all over the African continent since its first edition proudly held in Egypt in 2018 witnessed participation from 1,100 exhibitors  with  up to US$32 billion in trade and investment  deals closed during the trade fair. The Egyptian Government considers African economic development as one of its top priorities. We seek to achieve this through promoting Africa to Africa investment, increasing intra-African trade, developing infrastructure projects and supporting industrialisation plans. Events like this are a true reflection of our strong commitment to materialise economic development which would be given a boost through the full implementation of the AfCFTA which is set to redefine African economic fortunes for the future.”   

    The deputy minister’s address was followed by a panel session which discussed among other issues, unlocking Egypt’s export potential by leveraging AfCFTA for economic growth and continental integration. The panel session also explored various opportunities that exists under the AfCFTA for Egyptian manufacturers, exporters, investors, creatives and automotive sectors. It also took stock of Egypt’s current trade relations with Africa and discussed some of the challenges and opportunities involved with Egyptian companies operating across the continent.  Speakers included, Dr. Ahmed Fikry Abdel Wahab, Vice President, African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM); Mr. Ayman El Zoghby, Acting Director, Intra-African Trade Bank, Afreximbank;  Mr. Ahmed Sadek El Sewedy, President and Chief Executive Office, El Sewedy Electric; H.E. Yahia El-Wathik, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Mrs. Maii Assal, Chairperson, Egypt Expo and Convention Authority (EECA); and Mr. Ahmed Hanafi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LMTL Group Egypt.  

    Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, Afreximbank, in her remarks at the event said “Today’s roadshow will provide you all, especially the business community with critical information on the IATF, its relevance to Africa’s transformation and integration ambitions and to support the implementation of the AfCFTA. It should serve as a rallying call for the full participation of the Egyptian business community at the IATF2023 in Cairo. I’m hoping that the opportunity will be seized”. Mrs. Awani also highlighted Afreximbank’s support to Egypt’s industrialisation and export development efforts. She said “ Afreximbank has consistently provided support to the Egyptian public and private sector. Since inception Afreximbank has provided financing support to Egypt in excess of US$ 32 billion, with US$ 28 billion coming in the past 5 years alone.  Our support to Egypt cuts across major sectors and industries considered strategic to the Government of Egypt and pivotal to the growth and development of the national economy. This support has helped strengthen Financial Institutions, the Energy Sector, Telecommunication, Health and Construction, the private sector, among others.”

    The roadshow concluded with a ‘Media Launch’ which featured a high-level panel and Q&A with some of the key personalities behind the IATF. The session featured H.E. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR Chairperson of the IATF2023 Advisory Council and Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank; H.E. Yahia El-Wathik, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry for the Arab Republic of Egypt; H.E. Amb. Albert Muchanga, African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals; and Grace Khoza, Principal Communications Advisor, representing the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat.

    The IATF2023 roadshow was a key opportunity for the Egyptian private sector to learn more about the opportunities and benefits of participating in the IATF2023, Africa’s premier trade and investment fair, which will be held between the 9th to 15th of November in Cairo. As Africa’s largest trade and investment fair, the event is not to be missed for importers and exporters looking to take advantage of a single market of 1.3 billion people created by the AfCFTA with a combined Gross Domestic Product of US 3.5 billion dollars.

    The resoundingly successful inaugural trade fair held in Cairo, Egypt in 2018 was followed by an even more successful IATF2021 hosted in Durban. Collectively, the two editions of the Trade Fair brought together more than 2,500 exhibitors from 77 countries and generated over US$74 billion in deals, providing a glimpse of the immense potential that exists for intra-African trade. Building on this success, the third edition (IATF2023) holding in Cairo, Egypt, in November 2023, will again provide an opportunity for exhibitors to showcase their goods and services, engage in Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) exchanges, and conclude business deals which will ensure that the momentum toward greater intra-African trade is sustained.

    The Roadshow and Media Launch was preceded by the 6th IATF2023 Advisory Council meeting  which is chaired by H.E Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Reporting on the readiness of the various components of the event, including the Exhibition, the Conference, the IATF Virtual, the African Automotive Show, the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, AU Youth Start-Up programme, Country Day, Diaspora Day, and Business to Business and Business to Government, the organisers demonstrated an overall satisfactory level of preparation.

    To register and be part of IATF2023, interested exhibitors, buyers, trade visitors and delegates are invited to visit www.IntrAfricanTradeFair.com and sign up.  Follow our social media to get up-to-date information as well.

  • Afreximbank launches Insurance subsidiary to support intra-African trade

    Afreximbank launches Insurance subsidiary to support intra-African trade

    …AFREXInsure is set up to offer specialty insurance solutions for trade and trade-related investments across Africa with access to quality, best-in-breed specialty insurance that are tailor-made for Africa

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) today in Accra launched its wholly-owned insurance management services subsidiary, AFREXInsure, with a commitment to provide a single-entry point for all specialty insurance needs to assist in optimally managing related risks for the trade and commerce sector in Africa.

    Established in 2021, AFREXInsure is set up to offer specialty insurance solutions for trade and trade-related investments across Africa with access to quality, best-in-breed specialty insurance that are tailor-made for Africa.

    With credible knowledge of Africa, AFREXInsure will leverage on its risk expertise by using its continent-wide presence and deep understanding of the African market to provide solutions around cargo handling, construction, operations and energy – sectors critical for the growth and establishment of trade and investment intercontinental.

    Speaking during the launch, which took place on the sidelines of Afreximbank’s 30th Anniversary Annual Meetings, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, speaking on behalf of Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, said that AFREXInsure was established to facilitate the insurance of specialty risks in order to support businesses in Afreximbank member countries to mitigate the problem of Africa having to rely on external partners to architect the continent’s economic resilience and development.

    “By reducing the risk of transactions or investments, insurance can help drive forward business strategy for those engaged in intra-African trade and enable global partners to further their commercial interests and ambitions in Africa,” said Ms. Awani.

    Insurance penetration is relatively low in Africa compared to other regions, she noted. AFREXInsure will, therefore, strengthen efforts to address this need in Africa and in partner states in the Caribbean. It will also help retain insurance premiums in Africa and assist in ploughing back Africa’s investments into the continent for the enhancement of trade and economic development for the prosperity of the continent.

    The launch also witnessed the unveiling of AFREXInsure’s logo and brand identity under the slogan “Insurance Optimised”.