Gov’t secures 131 billion FCFA Afreximbank loan to speedup dev’t projects.

The deal was signed during a ceremony in Yaounde. The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, signed for Cameroon while Georeges Elombi, the Afreximbank Vice President in Charge of Government and Judicial Affairs, put pen on paper for the financial institution.

 The Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, MINEPAT in charge of Planning, Paul Njukang  Tasong attended the meeting.

Elombi said the loan has a holiday of five years after which Cameroon is expected to pay back or continue servicing it.

The official said the money will be channeled towards increasing energy production, its transportation and distribution. They goal, he said, is to ease load shading especially in Yaounde and Douala.

The  Afreximbank official  added that,  the loan will be used to construct and rehabilitate roads. He talked about the opening of new corridors to make it possible to increase trade with neighbouring countries, the African continent and the international community. 

With the overall thrust being to increase access of Cameroonian traders to the international market and up their exploitation of the continental market with the advent of the African Continental Free Trade area, AfCFTA, he anticipated great gains from the projects.

The objectives,  Elombi  also explained , are in line with the Afreximbank´s objective of accompanying Cameroon in its drive to transform its economy through robust trade exchanges, improved business climate and modernized industrial base.

The loan is also a follow up to promises made to the government in 2019. Then, the Bank sent its officials to Cameroon to identify projects in key sectors of financing.

The officials then used the occasion to present to the Cameroon business community the Bank’s products, programmes and facilities. They had reiterated their readiness to assist the country to execute priority trade-enabling infrastructure.

The African Export-Import Bank, is the foremost pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. 

Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations. 

Since 1994, it has approved more than $67 billion in credit facilities for African businesses. This includes $7.2 billion in 2018. Afreximbank had total assets of $13.4 billion as at 31 December 2018. It is rated A- (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB- (Fitch). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.