African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced launching its Central Africa Regional Office in Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The establishment of the Central Africa Regional Office continues Afreximbank\u2019s path of strategic geographic growth<\/p>\n
The new branch in Yaound\u00e9 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 (C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire) and Harare (Zimbabwe).<\/p>\n
Afreximbank\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
With trading having commenced under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In the medium to long term, the Central Africa Regional Office will deepen the financial services sector through improving and expanding the region\u2019s access to affordable and competitive financing, as well as advisory services, to a constituency of local banks, national exporters, importers and investors. Afreximbank\u2019s pan-African reach will further open up the region to new trading opportunities and partnerships across the continent.<\/p>\n
The opening of the Central Africa Regional Office in Yaound\u00e9 lays the foundation for the development of the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre (AATC) for Central Africa. This iconic building will house the Bank\u2019s 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. Through this major investment in infrastructure, Cameroon\u2019s attractiveness to further similar investments will be significantly enhanced. This constitutes part of a larger strategic programme to develop the Bank\u2019s regional offices and Headquarters into a network of Afreximbank Africa Trade Centres (AATCs).<\/p>\n
Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute, Prime Minister of Cameroon, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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 Yaound\u00e9 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 Yaound\u00e9 Regional Office will thus be a hub for the Afreximbank\u2019s operations, activities and projets in countries of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to launch the Central Africa Regional Office, furthering Afreximbank\u2019s footprint across all Africa\u2019s main sub-regions. We are grateful to the Cameroonian government for their unwavering support. With the opening of the office, the Bank\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the opening of this office, we aim to more than triple the Bank\u2019s interventions in the Central Africa Region to exceed US$5 billion in 5 years. We aim to use the Bank\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opening of this Regional Office in Yaound\u00e9 fulfils our strategic commitment \u2013 under our Plan dubbed IMPACT 2021: Africa Transformed, approved by our Board in December 2016 \u2013 to cover all the regions of the African continent and thereby truly establish the Bank as a pan-African institution.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced launching its Central Africa Regional Office in Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":320218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[132],"class_list":["post-323466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-afreximbank"],"yoast_head":"\n