Afreximbank opens Central Africa Regional Office in Cameroon

MOTOLANI OSENI

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has extended itsfootprint in the African continent with the opening of its Central Africa Regional Office in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

The new office covers the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), composed of Cameroon, the Central Africa Republic, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The bank in a statement obtained by lagos business news on Monday explained that the establishment of the Central Africa Regional Office continues its path of strategic geographic growth.

The new branch in Yaoundé brings the number of regional offices Afreximbank operates across Africa to five.

In 2019, the Bank opened its East Africa Regional Office located in Kampala (Uganda) in addition to its network of three previously established regional branches in Abuja (Nigeria), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and Harare (Zimbabwe).

Afreximbank’s deepening geographic footprint reflects the remarkable expansion of the Bank’s member states from 37 to 51 since 2015. With this vast membership, Afreximbank recognized the need to be closer to its markets and clientele.

With trading having commenced under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank’s regional offices are geared to serve as anchors for the delivery of intra-African trade finance and facilitation services that are critical to the seamless conduct of trade across Africa.

In the medium to long term, the Central Africa Regional Office will deepen the financial services sector through improving and expanding the region’s access to affordable and competitive financing, as well as advisory services, to a constituency of local banks, national exporters, importers and investors.

Afreximbank’s pan-African reach will further open up the region to new trading opportunities and partnerships across the continent.

The opening of the Central Africa Regional Office in Yaoundé lays the foundation for the development of the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre (AATC) for Central Africa. This iconic building will house the Bank’s regional operations and also host a range of relevant facilities including a world-class hotel, a trade information centre, a conference facility, and a trade exhibition facility, among others.

Prime Minister of Cameroon, Dr Joseph Dion Ngute said: “The Afreximbank Central Africa Regional Office enriches the institutional architecture of our capital which already hosts several representations of international, regional and sub-regional financial organisations. It was after a very competitive process that the city of Yaoundé was chosen to host this office. Its opening was confirmed on 13 December 2019 with the signing of a Headquarters Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding.

Since then, the Cameroonian Government has spared no effort to fulfil its commitments to make this representation operational. The Yaoundé Regional Office will thus be a hub for the Afreximbank’s operations, activities and projects in countries of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).”

President of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah said: “We are excited to launch the Central Africa Regional Office, furthering Afreximbank’s footprint across all Africa’s main sub-regions. We are grateful to the Cameroonian government for its unwavering support. With the opening of the office, the Bank’s services will become more easily available across the Central Africa region. The Bank will also be in a better position to support the implementation of the AfCFTA.

“With the opening of this office, we aim to more than triple the Bank’s interventions in the Central Africa Region to exceed US$5 billion in 5 years. We aim to use the Bank’s Investment and Country Risk Guarantees to attract African Direct Investment as well as Foreign Direct Investments amounting to over US$4 billion in the sub-region by five years.

“We will expand the number of banks benefiting from the Afreximbank’s Trade Services facilities in Central Africa Region from 4 (Cameroon 3 and DRC 1) to 15 banks in two years and expand their trade finance lines from US$85 million to US$500 million by 2025.”