President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo said, African continent would be unable to achieve its growth objectives unless it had strong development financial institutions.
Akufo-Addo said this at the 30th Annual General Meeting(AGM) of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
He stated that, Africa’s financial development institutions had remained highly undercapitalised, saying, those institutions needed to be properly capitalised and to have effective coordination with the African Union (AU) in order to be able to deliver effectively for the continent.
He noted that, a bank like the China Exim Bank had a capital of $54 billion while Afreximbank had only $6 billion, urging African countries and Africans to contribute to Afreximbank’s general capital initiative by subscribing to their allotted shares.
Akufo-Addo pointed out that, Afreximbank, for its catalytic role in Africa, should improve its rating with the credit rating agencies in order to enhance its operations and be able to work consistently for Africa and the African Diaspora.
Earlier, president and chairman of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah said, the bank was delivering on the blueprint laid out by the pioneers of the OAU for Africa’s socio-economic transformation.
“The pioneers had set priority key goals to establish a free trade area among the various African countries; to establish a Pan-African Payments and Clearing Union; to establish a common external tariff to protect the emergent industries.
and set up a raw material price stabilisation fund; to develop trade among African countries by the organisation and participation in African trade fairs and exhibitions and by granting transport and transit facilities; and to progressively free national currencies from all non-technical external attachments and the establishment of a Pan-African monetary Zone,” he said.
Today, he said, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is up and running, which will save the continent $5 billion in intra-African transfer changes, adding that, it will also expedite and enable payments for intra-African trade in African currencies.
“Very soon, we will domesticate all intra-African payments and extend the same to the CARICOM, where just a few days ago, the Association of CARICOM Central Banks adopted PAPSS as their preferred payment infrastructure for a pilot project. By this singular move, we are one step closer to a full integration of African and CARICOM economies,” he said.
Oramah also noted that the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in 2018, and its entry into force a year later, fulfilled another key aspiration of the continent’s founding leaders, saying that to make that Agreement work for Africa, a financial backbone was necessary.
He announced that, to deal with the considerable intra-African trade finance gap, Afreximbank disbursed over $20 billion in the five years to 2021 and projected to double those disbursements to $40 billion in the five years to 2026.