Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), yesterday in Cairo met with Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt, to congratulate him on his appointment and discuss ways the Bank could collaborate with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to support Egypt’s economic development.
President took the opportunity of the meeting to brief the Minister on the activities of the Bank in Egypt, particularly in the telecommmunications sector, announcing that, in May, the Bank approved a $200-million dual-tranche facility in favour of Telecom Egypt to finance the acquisition of a submarine cable which will increase the flow of internet into Egypt with a link to Sudan and Djibouti.
Similarly, in July, on the sidelines of the Bank’s Annual Meetings in Abuja, the Bank facilitated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Telecom Egypt and the Econet Group that will enable Econet’s Liquid Telecom unit to complete a terrestrial fibre optic network stretching all the way from Cape Town in South Africa to Cairo, added the President.
He also informed the Minister that Afreximbank implemented an Egypt-Africa Trade Promotion Programme in 2016 which committed $500 million to Egyptian businesses wishing to do business in Africa, saying that that limit was increased when the initial $500m was exhausted.
Prof. Oramah also briefed the Minister on the Bank’s current strategy, Impact 2021, and said that that strategy was aligned with the current strategy of the Egyptian government, which was focused on enhancing relationship with the rest of Africa.
Welcoming the President, the minister said that with Egypt assuming the role of head of the African Union in 2019, the Government was keen to facilitate intra-regional trade.
He pledged to mobilise some companies under his ministry to support the Intra-African Trade Fair which Afreximbank was organising in Cairo in December.
Mr. Talaat was appointed the Minister of Communications and Information Technology in June.