To accelerate industrialization in Africa, Afreximbank wants to support initiatives that promote job creation, transform and formalize economies, foster industrialization, and support the growth of intra-African trade and investment.

On the sidelines of Afeximbank’s annual meetings, in Ghana, the multilateral bank signed an agreement, with Arise IIP to accelerate industrialization in Africa.  The agreement defines the main terms and conditions of a new $400 million investment for the development of industrial parks across the continent.

The financing is the first installment of a $1 billion global investment line that the Cairo-based bank has committed to park developer Arise IIP. In 2022, through the Fund for Export Development in Africa, Afriximbank granted an $85 million convertible loan to ARISE IIP.  

For Afreximbank, the agreement signed by Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank's Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade, and Gagan Gupta, CEO of ARISE IIP, represents a continuation of the support provided by the Bank to ARISE IIP. This includes almost $700 million granted to the company over the past decade for the development of industrial parks and special economic zones in Gabon, Togo, and Benin.

The new financing is expected to bolster plans for several industrial zones currently under development in ten countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, Chad, Congo, Rwanda, and Nigeria.

Fiacre E. Kakpo