PR95363

CAIRO, April 6, 2022, /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

The Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on 31 March

2022 approved the launch of the Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing

Programme for Africa (UKAFPA), a programme of credit facilities that the Bank

has developed to manage the impacts of the Ukraine crisis on African economies

and businesses. The programme amounts to US$ 4 billion.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis which escalated on 24 February 2022 has had a

significant effect on the global economy. Given the importance of both Russia

and Ukraine as sources of crude oil and gas, raw materials and grains, the

outbreak of the conflict has wider repercussions on a global scale, including

adversely affecting African economies, especially those that rely heavily on

grain, fertilizer and fuel imports. The UKAFPA programme has the following

objectives:

- Import Re-Order Cost Adjustment Financing, to help countries to meet

immediate import price increases pending domestic demand adjustments

- Oil and Metals Buy-Back Financing to refinance over-collateralized loans in

the context of the current high oil and metal prices, and thereby release more

free cashflow for use in meeting other urgent needs, eg. food and fertilizer

imports and servicing rising cost of debt.

- Commodity Export Revenue Stabilisation to help countries and companies to

structure and enter derivative contracts at today’s high commodity prices and

stabilise future export earnings

- Tourism Revenue Deficit Financing to be extended to Central Banks of tourism

dependent economies to cover foreign exchange revenue shortfalls arising from a

decline in tourism arrivals from Russia and Ukraine

- National Export Revenue Acceleration Facility to be used to accelerate the

completion of impactful export-oriented projects by expediting access to

foreign currency for use in importing critical equipment, technology, and

expertise, for project completion

Since its establishment, Afreximbank has built a track record and earned a

reputation for introducing and implementing various emergency intervention

programmes, with embedded strong risk mitigations to respond to various crises

on a global scale and impacting Africa.  Recent examples include the Pandemic

Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) through which Afreximbank disbursed

over US$7 billion in support of African economies in their fight against the

Covid 19 pandemic. That facility expired in March. Previously, in 2015, the

Bank introduced its Countercyclical Trade Liquidity Facility (COTRALF) that

provided a platform for the disbursement of over US$10 billion to African

commercial and central banks making it possible to avert large scale trade debt

payment defaults at the height of the commodity crisis. Both facilities

achieved their respective goals and were deemed vitally important and

successful interventions.

UKAFPA is a response to an urgent call for emergency intervention by member

states of the Bank. UKAFPA – compliant financing requests received from across

Africa already exceeds US$15 billion. There is some urgency to meet these

requests to avoid catastrophic social conditions across Africa and reduce the

risk of their morphing into political challenges.

Afreximbank looks forward to working with partner banks and institutions to

urgently meet the need of African countries in terms of ensuring static and

dynamic food security, adequate fuel supplies and averting fertilizer and

agricultural input shortages, against a backdrop of renewed economic

nationalism worldwide.

Beyond the financing, Afreximbank plans to work with the UN Economic Commission

for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African

Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to launch the Intra-African

Supply Chain Coordination Group whose aim will be to enable alignment of

production and consumption ensuring that what is produced in Africa is

prioritised to meet African requirements, while reaching out to other entities

in other parts of the world to lend support.

Speaking after the board meeting held in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, Professor

Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of

Afreximbank commented:

“I am delighted that our Board has approved the introduction of the UKAFPA,

once again demonstrating their responsiveness to the needs of African member

states and their citizens. This initiative will contribute immensely to

averting social anxiety and upheaval that may arise from looming food shortages

and high costs of fertilizer and petroleum products.

“Following African Union’s endorsement, Afreximbank shareholders approved a

US$6.5 billion General Capital Increase on 2021 to boost the capacity of the

Bank to deliver on its mandate, deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, and support

AfCFTA implementation. We must now add the consequences of the ongoing Ukraine

crisis to the catalogue of emergencies a strong Afreximbank has to contend

with. We are very grateful to member states and shareholders who have already

paid in their subscriptions giving the Bank the flexibility to respond swiftly

to prevailing challenges. I call upon those who have not acted to do so

urgently as we will once again learn that in times of major crises we can only

count on our own institutions to lead the way before others follow.”

H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and current Chairperson

of the African Union expressed his support for the UKAFPA initiative, saying: "

I welcome the renewed energy of African institutions that have led our

coordinated and successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Africa now faces

the socio-economic challenges posed by a global context of conflict.

Afreximbank has once again shown the way forward by enabling the continent to

tackle the impact of the crisis head-on through financing solutions tailored to

the specific pressure points facing our member countries. I hope that UKAFPA

will play a major role in building resilience in nutrition and food security on

the African continent, in line with the theme of the 36th AU Summit."

Dr. Vera Songwe, United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary

of the Economic Commission for Africa welcomed this new initiative and added

that:

“The New facility is timely and will support countries build resilience as they

face yet another exogenous shock. The facilities approved by Afreximbank are

also core tools needed to continue strengthing the continental financial

architecture as countries look to rebuild their economies and take advantage of

the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.”

About Afreximbank:

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral

financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African

trade. Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions

that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade,

accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting

economic expansion in Africa. The Bank has a rich history of intervening in

support of African countries in times of crisis. Through the Pandemic Trade

Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) launched in April 2020, Afreximbank has

disbursed more than US$7 billion to help member countries manage the adverse

impact of the financial, economic, and health shocks caused by the COVID-19

pandemic. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement

(AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System

(PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and

settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Afreximbank

is working with the AU and the AfCFTA Secretariat to develop an Adjustment

Facility to support countries in effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At

the end of 2020, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at US$21.5

billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$3.4 billion. Afreximbank

disbursed more than US$42 billion between 2016 and 2020. The Bank has ratings

assigned by GCR (international scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating

Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB-). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com.

Follow us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/afreximbank] | Facebook

[https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2FA

frican-Export-Import-Bank-Afreximbank%2F406603026114918] | LinkedIn

[https://www.linkedin.com/authwall?trk=bf&trkInfo=AQHhye9gt_A78AAAAX__SQl4dH5oz2

MhjoJO6BWmStir74CpOHspIe3Ka9q3p2P82rqzJ3PC2TR7tIaE_qRpYS5ZI0KqVqQxR6rrrV5xMuXZrp

pzPcIWFmtL5UtVeEt2NfmZHGA=&originalReferer=&sessionRedirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.li

nkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fafrican-export-import-bank%2F] | Instagram

[https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=/afreximbankofficial/]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1781775/Afreximbank_Logo.jpg

Source: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)