Burundi Joins Afreximbank as participating state
Burundi has acceded to the Agreement for the Establishment of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), making it a participating state of the continental trade finance bank.
According to the Instrument of Accession, dated 15 March 2017 and signed by Domitien Ndihokubwayo, the Minister of Finance, Budget and Privatisation of Burundi, the country will implement all the necessary legal, regulatory and administrative procedures to ensure the immediate ratification of the Agreement.
Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, welcomed the accession and said that it would make it easier to for the Bank to implement its intra-African trade strategy by expanding the geographic focus.
Under its terms, countries that did not sign the 1993 Abidjan Agreement on the Establishment of the Bank before it entered into force, are required to first issue an instrument of acceptance and accession and then to formally ratify the Agreement in order to fully activate their membership of the Bank.
Current Afreximbank participating states include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, and Lesotho. Others are Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Participating states become shareholders when they acquire shares in the Bank. Afreximbank shareholders are a mix of public and private entities divided into four classes and consist of African governments, central banks, regional and sub-regional institutions, private investors and financial institutions, as well as non-African financial institutions, export credit agencies and private investors.
Class “A” shareholders are African states, African central banks and African public institutions, including the African Development Bank, while Class “B” is made up of African financial institutions and African private investors.
Class “C” shares are held by non-African investors, mostly international banks and export credit agencies, including Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, Citibank, China Exim Bank and Exim India. Class “D” shares, a tier approved in December 2012, are fully paid par value shares that can be held by any investor.
