A delegation from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) led by the President, Dr. Benedict Oramah, has visited Pemba, capital city of Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique, for discussions with the authorities and the private sector on opportunities to support the development and financing of the province’s trade industries and infrastructure.
The delegation held meetings on 7 and 8 September with Cabo Delgado officials and also made a presentation at a dinner with the local business community. The encounters highlighted the Bank’s trade finance offerings and its strategic drive to support the growth of intra-African trade as well as promote the continent’s industrialization.
Speaking during the dinner, Dr. Oramah said that in its efforts to achieve higher local value addition across the continent’s sectoral value chains, Afreximbank was expanding the involvement of local entrepreneurs in order to ensure sustainable and inclusive development. He said that Cabo Delgado’s long coastline and rich natural resources offered great opportunities for industrial development and regional trade.
Afreximbank’s programmes and specialized facilities covered such areas as agriculture, energy and extractive industries, tourism, infrastructure development and support to the banking system and to small and medium-sized enterprises, said Dr. Oramah, noting that they could play a critical role in creating an industrial base and in the diversification of Cabo Delgado’s provincial economy.
Earlier, Celmira Frederico Pena da Silva, Governor of Cabo Delgado, commended Afreximbank’s commitment to driving positive economic change across the continent and said that the Province’s strategic goal was to improve local value addition and industrialization.
It was focusing on the development of agro-processing industries while driving demand through the key sectors tourism, mining and energy which independent studies indicated could generate between $1 billion and $2 billion and 400,000 jobs for the province within the next 10 years, the governor said.
Ms. Pena da Silva said that immediate opportunities for investment in the province existed in the construction of railway corridors, gas and graphite power plants, agro-processing plants, irrigation systems and port infrastructure as well as maritime transportation equipment.
Cabo Delgado Province saw itself as a prospective trade partner with other African countries and looked to Afreximbank for support it to achieve that goal, she said.
Accompanying the President on the visit were Gift Simwaka, Regional Manager for Southern Africa, Richman Dzene, his Special Assistant; Jean-Christian Koudou of the Export Development Department; and Fleur Tchibota of the Communications Unit.
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About Afreximbank:
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations. Since 1994, it has approved more than $41 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $6.2 billion in 2015. Afreximbank had total assets of $9.4 billion as at 30 April 2016 and is rated BBB- (Fitch) and Baa2 (Moody’s). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com