The African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) has provided $10 billion funding towards the establishment of an adjustment fund to cushion countries under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The AfCFTA Adjustment Fund will support African countries and their private sector firms to effectively participate in the new trading environment established under the AfCFTA.
The fund, which is being established by the AfCFTA Secretariat with support from the Afreximbank is a directive from the African Union (AU) Summit of Heads of State and Government and the AfCFTA Council of Ministers responsible for trade.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, who made this known at the opening of the 30th Afreximbank Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra yesterday, stated that the fund would help African countries to effectively adjust to AfCFTA tariff removals and prepare them to participate in the new trading regime.
Afreximbank is also collaborating with the AU Commission and the AfCFTA Secretariat to implement the biennial intra-African trade fairs, which may become the premier marketplace for the promotion of intra-African trade and investments.
“This, coupled with the establishment of the fund for which Afreximbank is providing the funding of $10 billion, could help African countries effectively adjust to AfCFTA tariff removals and prepare them to participate in the new trading regime,” he said.
The meeting
The five-day meeting is on the theme: “Delivering the vision: Building prosperity for Africans”.
The meeting seeks to create a platform for participants to deliberate on finding solutions to financial issues confronting the African continent.
It will feature keynote addresses, panel discussions, plenaries and fireside-type conversations focusing on African trade, trade finance and development issues, including the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Some of the participants in the opening session included the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta; former President of Niger and AfCFTA Champion, Mahamadou Issoufou; Nigerian businessman and industrialist, Aliko Dangote, and other business and political leaders; banking industry professionals, as well as trade finance practitioners from the continent.
Meaningful contribution
The governor said it was also to promote industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development and enhance capital flows into Africa.
Evidence of the bank’s interventions are numerous and includes infrastructural investments to support intra-African trade, investments in agriculture and industry, trade facilitation, trade guarantee and advisory services, and country-specific programmes to support those in dire economic situations.
“The bank has also introduced platforms designed to improve and facilitate trade in Africa, including the MANSA repository platform, the Pan African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS),and the Intra African Trade Fair (IATF),” Dr Addison said.
The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, stated that AfCFTA presented a major opportunity for African countries to bring many people out of extreme poverty.
He said the tools and commitment required to implement the agreement as the largest free trade area in the world, measured by the number of countries participating,were already in place.
The AfCFTA agreement has been ratified by 47 state parties, with only one member of the African Union yet to ratify but the political commitment and will is available for the success of the initiative,” Mene said.
Afreximbank’s contribution
The Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC),Dr Pamela Coke-Hamilton, in a virtual address, said the commitment of Afreximbank to private sector development, especially to enterprise competitiveness, could not be overemphasized.
She maintained that the ITC recognised the immense importance and contribution of Afreximbank to empower and enable more enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs),to thrive in the global marketplace.