The African Export-Import Bank (the ”Bank” or “Afreximbank”) today, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Euler Hermes (“Hermes”) & Price WaterHouse Coopers (‘’PwC’’) (together “The German ECA”). The MoU, which was signed here, at the offices of Euler Hermes provides a framework for cooperation and collaboration between Afreximbank and the German ECA in harmonizing their efforts and resources for the promotion of Germany-Africa trade and economic relations. The MoU, among other things, sets out the basis for cooperation in matters of common interest especially as they relate to co-financing of projects, provision of credit line and establishment of finance schemes to promote Germany-Africa Trade as well as joint incentives and/or facilitation of technical assistance to support trade and investment flows between the Federal Republic of Germany and Africa. “The MoU will contribute to significantly boosting Germany-Africa trade by several million Euros, said Mr. Jean-Louis EKRA, the President of Afreximbank who signed on behalf of the Bank. Dr. Hans Janus (Member of the Board of Management), Jan von Allworden (Member of the Executive Management) signed on behalf of PwC and Mr. Andreas Klasen (Managing Director ECA Consortium), Hans-Joachim Pflocksch (Partner/Head of Division, International Relations) signed on behalf of Euler Hermes.
In the letter conveying the acceptance of Afreximbank, by the Inter-ministerial Committee for Export Credit Guarantees of the Federal Republic of Germany, as a guarantor or borrower for covered short term transactions and to grant a specific maximum exposure limit for covered medium and long term export credit transactions, the German ECA stated that “From our point of view, this step will permit and facilitate the realization of on the one hand, a much higher general volume of covered export transactions to Africa and on the other hand, bigger single projects (e.g in the fields of infrastructure) with the participation of African Export Import Bank”. While thanking the German ECA for the approval and acceptance of Afreximbank, Mr. Ekra stated that “this is a positive development for both the African Continent and the German Exporters as it is sure to increase the general economic relationship between the continent and Germany”.
The African Export Import Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, as well as non African investors, for the purposes of financing and promoting intra and extra African trade. The Bank was established by the adoption of its basic constitutive documents, namely, the Agreement for the Establishment of the Bank (the “Establishment Agreement”), which confers on the Bank the status of an international organization, and the Charter of the Bank, governing its corporate structure and operations. Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
The German ECA made up of Hermes and PWC have been working together for over 60years on behalf of the German Government to promote the export of German goods and services. They are the managers of the export credit scheme of the German Government, under contract and empowered by a mandate from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of Germany. Euler Hermes & PwC aim to facilitate the development of the German national economy and to enhance their economic cooperation with foreign countries by providing financial support for export and import transactions, overseas investment projects and the exploitation of overseas natural resources.