March 28, 2024

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Nigeria: Buhari Commends AfreximBank’s Leadership

Abuja — President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for its dynamism and tenacious leadership, which he said has proved that Africans could come together to build something meaningful.

President Buhari disclosed this at the annual meetings and 25thAnniversary celebration of the bank which came to an end at the weekend in Abuja.

Delivering a keynote address at the closing ceremony, he said that those attributes had enabled the Bank to achieve the success which it had enjoyed since its establishment 25 years ago.

President of Afreximbank, Dr. Benedict Oramah, told guests that, “Since January 2016, 13 African countries had joined the Bank as Participating States and/or Shareholders, bringing the total number of countries to 50 African States and the goal of achieving full continental coverage within sight.”

In his report on the activities of the Bank, the president announced that in 2017, the revenues grew by 25 per cent to reach $645 million, driven by healthy interest income on average assets of about $14 billion, of which about 70 per cent was loans and advances.

He also said that net income as a result rose by 34 per cent to reach a new record of $220 million. “Liquidity was very strong, with cash and due from banks reaching $3.2 billion, up 153 per cent from $1.3 billion in 2016, while liquidity cover ratio was 185 per cent, above the target of 105 per cent.

“Mindful that intra-African trade cannot flourish without a strong industrial base, we are pressing ahead with our effort to support the development of industrial parks and export processing zones across Africa,” said Oramah.

In his contribution, chairman of the general meeting of shareholders and minister of Finance of Rwanda, Dr. Ndagijimana Uzziel, announced that the board of directors had proposed a dividend declaration of $57.53 million to shareholders, representing a 51 per cent increase on the $37.96 million declared in the previous year.

The meeting also saw the election of Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance of Nigeria, as the new Chairperson of the General Meeting of Shareholders.

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