Afreximbank Has $500 Million for Africa to Buy Russian Planes

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – The African Export-Import Bank will provide African national airlines and privately owned companies $500 million through an export-credit facility provided by the Russia Exim Bank.

Another $300 million will be available for an aircraft-leasing facility, targeting airlines that can’t afford upfront cost of purchasing jets, Afreximbank’s director of client relations, Rene Awambeng, told reporters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. He spoke during a three-nation roadshow by Russian plane makers and the state-owned Russian Export Centre, a shareholder of the pan-African lender.

Companies on the roadshow include Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a unit of Sukhoi Aviation Holding Co JSC, Irkut Corp. PJSC, and Russian Helicopters JSC.

Sukhoi already has an order for four mid-range aircraft by an African nation, which will be delivered in 2020, Senior Vice President Evgeniy Andrachnikov said, declining to name the country.

The company is targeting sales of 100 planes in the next decade, he said. Sukhoi is banking on aspects such as the subsidized financing and more fuel-efficient craft to compete with Embraer SA and Bombardier Inc, which also supply African carriers with mid-range jets.

Source: Bloomberg Business News