African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) plans to mobilize up to $1 billion in equity, over the next five years, to boost trade across the continent.

According to data from the World Bank, intra-African trade over the past decade has increased significantly, now representing about 15% of the continent’s total trade volume. This is lowest for a continent worldwide, comparing to Asia and Europe for example where this value stands around 50%-70%. 

Indeed, in Europe, internal trade revenues are estimated at $6 trillion. This said, Afreximbank is doing everything to improve its results. 

Actually, it aims to double intra-Africa trade volume by 2021, bringing it to $400 billion per year, against $170 billion only now. In this framework, it should inject over the coming years, more than $90 billion in the continent’s industrialization while stimulating both Africa's internal trade as external trade volumes, in a context where protectionism is reviving. 

Founded in 1993 to finance and promote intra and extra African trade, the bank whose capitalization reached $12 billion at the end of 2016, has already approved more than $51 billion of loans to African companies. Out of this, about $10.3 billion were granted in 2016.  

Fiacre E. Kakpo