Afreximbank raises more than $3 bln to fund work, but demands soar

KIGALI (Capital Markets in Africa) – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has already secured more than the $3 billion it had sought to raise by the end of 2016 to fund its activities, with about $1 billion coming from Eurobonds, a senior executive said on Thursday.

But Cairo-based Afreximbank Executive Vice-President George Elombi also told Reuters the bank did not have enough resources to meet the continent’s soaring demand for financing from African economies hurt by a commodities price plunge.

Speaking during a trip to Rwanda’s capital Kigali, he said the bank was facing pressure from “parties to whom we provide financing. The request from them is enormous.”

African states were seeking trade and other facilities worth about $40 billion, which Elombi said meant other global institutions needed to step into help. He did not name them.

Afreximbank is a multilateral body set up to help African states – many of them reliant on raw material exports – overcome difficulties with financing and developing trade.

Afreximbank had said in May it aimed to raise $3 billion this year via Eurobonds, syndications and bilateral and institutional lending. [nL5N1806D7]

“To date we have exceeded that amount,” said Elombi, adding the bank had “exceeded $1 billion” raised from Eurobonds alone.

Afreximbank also said in May it aimed to increase the amount deposited by central banks to $10 billion from about $3 billion.

Elombi said that target was expected to be achieved by the end of this year or in the first half of 2017.

Source: Reuters Africa News