The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will establish its regional headquarters (office) for the Caribbean and the Americas in Barbados next month, Prime Minister Mia Mottley stated on Tuesday.
“It is a significant signal of confidence that they have chosen us to be that location from which to do the work,” she said of the bank’s choice.
Official release from Afreximbank Below
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced that its Board of Directors has approved the opening of the Bank’s CARICOM Office to be established in Barbados.
Afreximbank CARICOM Office will support the implementation of the Partnership Agreement, entered into by, and between, Afreximbank and CARICOM Member States aimed at expanding Africa-Caribbean trade and investment relations.
Ten out of the 15 CARICOM Member States have signed the Agreement, which confers upon the signatories the status akin to those held by Africa Participating States. It consolidates the Bank’s efforts to promote and develop South-South trade, specifically trade between Africa and the Caribbean, in line with its Diaspora Strategy and African Union’s designation of the African Diaspora as Africa’s sixth region.
Following the establishment of the Partnership Agreement, US$1.5 billion in credit limit was approved by the Board of Directors of Afreximbank to support eligible CARICOM States, with a commitment to increase this to US$3 billion. The financing will be targeted at supporting economic sectors identified as core to boosting the region’s prosperity, particularly the development of trade-enabling infrastructure, as well as boosting trade and investments between Africa and the CARICOM Member States while providing support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s).
The establishment of Afreximbank CARICOM Office is critical to facilitating operations of the Bank in the Caribbean Community. It will bring Afreximbank’s products and initiatives closer to the business community and ensure that the Bank rapidly ramps-up operations to promote stronger relations with the Governments in the region towards the pursuit of mutually identified priorities.
