Africa’s most high-profile political and business leaders, joined by leading international experts will from 28th of June to July 1st 2017 convene in Kigali Rwanda for the 24th African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank) Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shareholders. The AGM and its related activities are scheduled to take place at the Kigali Convention Centre under the theme “Boosting intra-African trade and integration.” This meeting will be the second presided by Dr Benedict Oramah since he became president of the organisation.

Rwanda, only widely known for the genocide, which began in 1994, has become an event destination in Africa because of its safety. Almost all international events that are held in Africa happen in Rwanda. Rwanda has dramatically transformed its economy, emerging as a regional high-tech hub that boasts one of sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest GDP growth rates. It is one of the continent’s most competitive economies and a top reformer in improving the business environment. In the past three years it has successfully hosted several notable conferences like the pan-African AfDB Annual Meeting in 2014, Transform Africa Summit in 2013, 2015 and 2016, the 84th Interpol General Assembly in 2015, the African Union Summit, the Africa Hotel Investment Forum, the World Economic Forum on Africa and now the Afrexim Bank AGM.

Notable speakers who are expected to be present at the Afrexim Bank AGM includes:

  • Paul Kagame – President of Rwanda
  • Anastase Murekezi – Prime Minister of Rwanda
  • Claver Gatete – Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Rwanda
  • Olusegun Obasanjo – former President of Nigeria;
  • Akinwumi Adesina – President of the African Development Bank
  • Roberto Azevedo – Director-General, World Trade Organization
  • Justin Lin, Director – Center for New Structural Economics and Honorary Dean, National School of Development, Peking University, China
  • Ahmed El Sewedy – President, El Sewedy Industries, Egypt
  • Kola Karim – Managing Director, Shoreline Energy International, UK
  • Okechukwu Enelamah – Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment of Nigeria
  • Bassem Loukil – President, Loukil Group, Tunisia
  • Albert Muchanga – African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry
  • Ahmed Darwish – Head of Suez Canal Special Economic Zone, Egypt
  • Souleymane Diarrassouba – Minister of Trade, Craft and Promotion of SMEs, Côte d’Ivoire
  • Amina Chawahir Mohamed – Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Kenya
  • Ade Ayeyemi – CEO, Ecobank Transnational
  • Andrew Alli – President and CEO, Africa Finance Corporation
  • James Duddridge – Member of the UK Parliament and Former Minister for Africa

What are the activities of the AGM?

The AGM activities include a two-day seminar which will take place on the 28th and 29th of June and will explore the prospects for accelerating economic development and transformation of African economies through trade. They will be followed on June 30 by the meeting of the Afrexim Bank Advisory Group on Trade Finance and Export Development in Africa, focusing on Africa’s trade opportunities in a world of rising protectionism.

An investment forum, hosted by the Rwandese government, and a trade exhibition will also take place on 30 June while the AGM activities will conclude on 1 July with the formal Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Bank and an African leaders’ round-table.

What you didn’t know about Afrexim Bank

  • Afrexim Bank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting African trade.
  • It was established under two basic constitutive instruments which are the Agreement signed by member States and multilateral organisations, which gives the bank the status of an international multilateral organisation and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations.
  • The bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors.
  • Afrexim Bank commenced operations on 30 September 1994, following the signature of a Headquarters Agreement with the host Government in August 1994.
  • Since 1994, it has approved more than 51 billion dollars in credit facilities for African businesses, including about 10.3 billion dollars in 2016.
  • Afreximbank has total assets of 9.4 billion dollars as at April 30, 2016
  • The Bank is rated BBB+ (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB- (Fitch).
  • The bank is based in Cairo, Egypt.

Elsewhere on Ventures

Triangle arrow