Bujumbura, 29 September 2017: – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will provide financial and advisory support to Burundi to facilitate the development of the energy, mining, tourism and agriculture sectors to contribute to the country’s economic recovery, Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of the Bank, has said in Bujumbura.
Speaking on Monday after a courtesy call on President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, Dr. Oramah said that by joining Afreximbank as a Member State in March, Burundi had become eligible for the Bank’s financial products and services.
President Oramah, who was accompanied by several African business leaders, said that the visit was to identify sectors and opportunities in which the business leaders could invest and partner with local entities and to also explore areas where the Bank’s trade and project finance interventions would be required.
“We have identified opportunities to develop the industrial and agro-processing capacities of the country, which would also require financing in the energy sector, and we are keen to finance the development of tourism infrastructure in order to add value to the Burundi’s vast cultural and natural assets,” he said.
Commending the Bank for its support, President Nkurunziza told his visitors that Burundi’s priorities were to increase power generation and mining production and to develop the agro-industry and tourism.
President Oramah said that following the visit, the Bank would send a technical team to develop tailor-made financing solutions to support Burundi’s key growth sectors as part of a country programme which would also look into deploying Afreximbank’s guarantee products to generate investments.
The Bank delegation subsequently held meetings with several ministers and with the Central Bank of Burundi to discuss financial needs and development projects and to explore ways to strengthen the local banking industry.
Accompanying the President were Dr. George Elombi, Executive Vice-President in charge of Governance, Legal and Corporate Services; Rene Awambeng, Global Head in charge of Client Relations; Vitalis Ekene Uzor, Special Assistant to the President; Clarisse Motsebo from the Board Secretariat; Jean-Christian Koudou from the Export Development Department; and Fleur Tchibota from the Communications Department.
The accompanying business leaders were from the energy, construction, agriculture, telecommunications and manufacturing sectors in Egypt, Nigeria and South-Sudan.
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Media Contact: Fleur Tchibota (ftchibota@afreximbank.com; Tel. +202-2456-4260)
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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 $51 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $10.3 billion in 2016. Afreximbank had total assets of $11.7 billion as at 31 December 2016 and is rated BBB+ (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB- (Fitch). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com