Afreximbank raises $8.5 billion for African infrastructure
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has raised some US$8 billion through its syndications programme to support the development and financing of infrastructure projects in Africa, Jean-Louis Ekra, President of the Bank, has announced.
Mr. Ekra told guests at the Second Annual CAF-LSE Conference in London that Afreximbank had also mobilized more than $540 million through its project-related financing programme for the development of port, telecommunication, tourism and rail infrastructure across Africa.
Speaking during a session on the Geopolitics of development, Mr. Ekra said that infrastructure was a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth and development and that it was a critical element in supporting trade, production, marketing and distribution of goods and services.
He noted the dramatic increase in infrastructure financing from emerging market economies in Africa in recent years and attributed the development to the expected returns on investment, both in the short and medium terms, for the African countries and the investors. He, however, warned that the rise should not be taken to be a substitute to the long and historical relationships that had existed between Africa and the countries of Europe and the North.
According to the President, Africa’s infrastructure financing needs stands at about $93 billion per year. With African governments spending only about $45 billion per year on infrastructure, that left a financing gap of $48 billion every year.
“Accelerating the process of economic growth and poverty reduction in the Africa region will depend on steps taken to close the infrastructure deficit,” stated Mr. Ekra. “Success in overcoming the infrastructure deficit will depend on whether the requisite funding can be mobilized and whether African countries are committed to strengthening cross-border collaboration and deepening the process of regional integration.”
The Conference was organized by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Global South Unit of the London School of Economics and Political Science under the theme, Geopolitics and the global south: Challenges of the emerging international order.