Afreximbank earmarks $1.5bn to boost African economies
The African Export-Import Bank (Afrximbank) has unveiled a $1.5 billion collaborative Covid-19 Pandemic Response Facility (COPREFA) to back African economies with rapid financial assistance to reduce the impact of the pandemic.
Afreximbank and its collaborators in Cairo, Egypt made this known in a joint statement recently.
The collaborators are the pan-African multilateral EXIM bank, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), the Trade Finance Arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
The bank said COPREFA would be accessed by eligible central banks, commercial banks and businesses to finance the import of medical supplies.
It said it would also be used to finance agricultural equipment and fertilisers, essential for addressing the pressing food production deficit.
“COPREFA is designed to support African economies to overcome myriads of challenges including commodity price shocks, a significant drop in tourism and disruption to supply chains and export manufacturing.
“It will also address the sudden declines in financial flows, including a drop-off in trade and project finance, migrant remittances, portfolio investment and Foreign Direct Investments.”
The bank said that a key attribute of the COPREFA facility was the speed at which financial assistance could be provided through all partners involved.
It said that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had proven to be fast-paced, requiring support that could be deployed quickly and flexibly to prevent sharp declines in national economies.
Itemising some of its achievements in Africa, the bank said it had a strong track record of supporting African economies during financial crises.
The president of the bank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, said Afreximbank’s priority had always been to step-up when markets fell.
Mr Hani Salem Sonbol, the Chief Executive Officer of ITFC said that providing fiscal bandwidth and practical support to Small and Medium Enterprises and medical communities in African countries would deliver immediate relief from the supply side restraints on personal protective equipment caused by the pandemic.
