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The board of directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved $1.5 billion financing for Caribbean states, in line with a strategy to strengthen ties between Africa and the Caribbean.
The funding will enable member states of the so-called Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to tap into the lender’s financial instruments, according to a statement on Tuesday.
The bank is also working to introduce investors and financial institutions in CARICOM to various opportunities across Africa.
“This [funding] approval is another giant step in the historic reconnection we are successfully forging between Africa and the Caribbean,” said Benedict Oramah, president and chairman of the board of directors at Afreximbank.
“Afreximbank is now all set to operate in the CARICOM member countries which we are pleased to welcome as participating states in the bank.”
The beneficiaries of the funding are CARICOM’s member states that have ratified their partnership agreement with Afreximbank. The agreement was announced last September at the inaugural Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) in Bridgetown, Barbados.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Mily Chakrabarty)
