Afreximbank targets $500 Million support for Chad’s National Development Plan Projects
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is to arrange at least $500 million in multi-sourced financing to support projects in agro-processing, energy, manufacturing, tourism and logistics sectors under Chad’s National Development Plan, following the country’s membership of the Bank, Afreximbank President Dr. Benedict Oramah has announced.
Speaking in N’Djamena after meeting President Idriss Déby Itno of Chad, Dr. Oramah said that Afreximbank would put together a country programme to mitigate the adverse impact of recent economic shocks and support Chad’s economic growth.
Dr. Oramah, who led a mission of intra-African trade business leaders to discuss trade and investment opportunities in Chad, said that as a development finance institution, Afreximbank was created to support African countries in challenging times, to assist them in exploring ways to transform their economies to foster resilience to shocks and to bring positive change to the people’s livelihoods.
“After reviewing the list of projects included in the country’s National Development Plan, we saw opportunities to finance a 100 megawatt electricity project, the construction of industrial parks, and the development of agro-processing plants in the sugar and cotton sectors,” he said.
There were also opportunities for supporting the local banking industry for enhanced trade finance, added the President who said that Afreximbank was ready to do even more based on the needs and strategic orientation of the government.
He said that the business leaders on his delegation were interested in investing in the country and in partnering with local businesses, in line with Afreximbank’s new strategic plan, IMPACT 2021, which focuses on boosting intra-African trade and investment flows, accelerating Africa’s industrialisation, developing the continent’s export capacity and increasing its access to trade finance.
Earlier, President Déby Itno commended Afreximbank for its commitment to Chad and affirmed his full support for the Bank and to the entrepreneurs who were part of the delegation.
“Chad is a virgin land with tremendous opportunities and our government is now engaged in a vast development programme which will bring more stability in the region and contribute to the realisation of its economic potential,” he said.
The delegation also met with several Chadian ministers for detailed discussions on the country’s priority projects and to agree on the next steps to enable Afreximbank decide and proceed with financing options.
In meetings with representatives of the banking industry and the private sector, the delegation presented the Bank’s trade finance products and services and discussed opportunities to support the development of local businesses.
The business leaders accompanying the President included industrial champions from the energy, agriculture, manufacturing, telecommunications, logistics and real estate sectors headquartered in Egypt, Nigeria and Cameroun, and operating across Africa.
