LONDON, (The Southern African Times) – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) officially opened a branch office in Cameroon’s capital city, Yaounde on Friday, the first in Central Africa as the bank seeks to increase its presence in the region.
Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate the new branch office, Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute said the choice of Yaounde to host the Central African office was a great honor to the country and proof of the vibrant economy of Cameroon and its strategic position in the sub-region.
He said Cameroon expects the bank to facilitate the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement and usher in a new era of development.
Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank said the new base in Cameroon will help exporters in the nine countries in Central Africa, offering them advice, as well as trade and investment information about opportunities in other parts of Africa.
With the new office, Afreximbank plans to quintuple its interventions in the Central African sub-region to five billion US dollars in the next three years and increase the number of institutions that will benefit from credit facilities in the region, Rene Awambeng, head of client relations for Afreximbank told reporters.
Afreximbank is an initiative started by African governments, African private and institutional investors as well as non-African financial institutions and private investors for the purpose of financing, promoting and expanding intra-African and extra-African trade.
