Afreximbank Unveiled As Official Partner Of 2022 African Energy Week

Posted by Eric Ojo Business News, Latest Headlines Tuesday, July 26th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – A leading Pan-African financial services provider, Afreximbank has been unveiled as the official partner of this year’s African Energy Week (AEW) holding from October 18 to 21 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The AEW is Africa’s premier energy conference, exhibition and networking event organized annually by African Energy Chamber (AEC). The AEW is under a mandate to make energy poverty history in Africa by 2030.

Through the partnership, a new era of energy deals, intra-African trade local content and making energy poverty history in Africa is on the horizon.

AEW 2022 unites African energy stakeholders with investors and international partners to drive industry growth and development and promote Africa as the destination for energy investments. Key organizations such as the African Petroleum Producers Organization, as well as African heavyweights including Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria, have partnered with AEW, strengthening the role the event will play in Africa’s energy future.

The partnership will see both AEW and Afreximbank uniting the power of investment and value creation, driving stronger energy developments in 2022 and beyond.

In the addition, the partnership will strengthen the continent’s manufacturing industry, improve local content, drive asset acquisition and African independent participation while accelerating a just and inclusive energy transition and making energy poverty history in Africa.

As a frontline Pan-African financial institution, the Bank has established itself as a major player and key facilitator of Africa’s trade finance sector. From funding key projects to creating opportunities for capital partnerships and deals, it has and continues to drive multi-sector growth in Africa.

On the energy front, Afreximbank has emerged as a top financial services provider, with notable deals including the $200 million loan facility agreement signed with the Egyptian General Petroleum Company to enhance the expansion of power generation and distribution in Egypt and $400 million in loans and guarantees to support Mozambique’s liquified natural gas project.

The Bank also provided $700 million to support Sudan’s energy and communications expansion; $250 million credit to Trans Niger Oil and Gas Ltd to help facilitate the acquisition of a 45% stake in the OML 17 onshore oilfield; and a $500 million financing facility to assist the government of South Sudan in power transmission, infrastructure and agriculture projects.

With the partnership, both AEW and the bank are committed to seeing even more deals on the table, with the conference providing the most suitable platform for deals to be signed, sealed and delivered.

Meanwhile, having made significant progress in financing and promoting intra-African trade and local content, the Afreximbank recognizes the need for an intra-African energy push, one built against improved trade, finance and collaboration.

With the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in January 2021, new opportunities for continental trade have emerged and during AEW 2022, the bank will make a strong case for regional cooperation and commerce.

Just last month, the Afreximbank Board of Directors approved the renewal of a $1 billion facility to operationalize the AfCFTA, demonstrating its commitment to financing trade in Africa. As countries, stakeholders and companies capitalize on the opportunities of the agreement, the partnership between AEW and the Afreximbank will only strengthen intra-African trade, as the bank continues to finance the growth of the continent alongside AEW.

On the local content front, the Bank has advanced the role of local companies in Africa’s energy future, providing critical capital required for growth, asset acquisition and expansion. By providing funding to both new and mature enterprises, covering both the energy and trade spectrums, the bank represents a key driver of the continent’s economic expansion.

In strengthening capacity building and local content, last week the Afreximbank announced a grant to the Grand Africa Initiative to train 200 young African entrepreneurs on business and intra-African trade for three months while the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board announced that the Afreximbank invested more than $42 billion in support of African businesses between 2016 and 2020.

With this number expected to grow as the bank continues its local content and intra-African development drive, AEW 2022 offers a platform to invest, partner and progress.

Executive Chairman of AEC, NJ Ayuk said the partnership is what the African energy sector needs at this time, adding that with significant, untapped resources covering the entire energy spectrum as well as opportunities across the entire energy value chain, the future of the African energy sector will be largely driven by the continent’s ability to finance its own development.

“This is what the Afreximbank is all about and with its partnership with AEW 2022, a wave of deals, capital commitments, just energy transition and progress can be expected. The spirit of starting and signing deals will drive AEW both during this year’s conference and every conference that follows.

“We have already identified various agreements and consider this partnership to be key for making these agreements a reality. The Afreximbank, alongside initiatives like Team Energy Africa – aimed at mobilizing private sector financing for accelerated clean energy deployment across Africa, will be key for ensuring Africa realizes the full potential of its energy and economic sectors”, he further explained.