Afreximbank, Others Urged to Develop African Economies

• Afreximbank, Others Urged to Develop African Economies

President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea has urged African financial institutions to focus on assisting African countries to address the disadvantages arising from the underdevelopment of the continent’s economy.

The Eritrean president said this when he received a delegation of the African Export-Import Bank led by the President of the bank, Dr. Benedict Oramah.

Afwerki said despite the fact that Africa was endowed with 60 per cent of the world’s resources, the continent had continued to be disadvantaged due to the underdeveloped state of the economy.

This, according to him, has made the continent to be exporting mainly raw materials and primary products.

“Eritrea believes in working with financial institutions that can help in transforming the African economy,” he said, adding that, in the last 25 years, the country had been trying to invest heavily in infrastructure.

Afwerki expressed Eritrea’s willingness to join Afreximbank as a member state and said that it would aim to be an effective contributor to encourage and ensure the creation of the environment for the delivery of the services for which the bank was created.

Eritrea would implement the required procedures to become an active member of the bank, he pledged.

Earlier, Oramah commended Eritrea for the many changes it was implementing to transform the economy, including in the areas of transport, water and agriculture, the lender said in a statement.

He said that, as an African bank that puts Africa first, Afreximbank was committed to working with African countries to address their trade development needs, explaining that the bank was set up to promote and finance intra-and extra-African trade.

Oramah outlined the bank’s current strategy, which focused on intra-African trade; industralisation and export development; and trade finance leadership, and said that Eritrea could benefit from its implementation when it became a member of the bank.

Joining Oramah on the Afreximbank delegation were the Head of Communications and Events, Obi Emekekwue; Regional Chief Operating Officer, East Africa, Kudakwashe Matereke; Special Assistant to the President on Banking and Special Initiatives, Ekene Uzor; and Jacqueline Motsebo of the board secretariat.

The delegation also held a separate meeting with the Minister of Finance of Eritrea, Berhane Abrehe; Economic Advisor to the President of Eritrea, Berhane Abrehe, to brief them on the bank’s programmes and services.