The Togolese government announced on Thursday (June 14th) that it has examined the draft law authorizing accession to the agreement establishing the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank).
In a statement issued to this effect, the executive said that the agreement signed since May 1993 in Abidjan by African countries “in order to address the various factors that hinder African trade,” was intended to promote and develop south-south trade, on the one hand between African countries and, on the other hand, between African countries and other countries.
In fact, he explains, these various factors – including the deterioration of the terms of trade, the fall in export prices, the increase in the external debt and the inadequacy of the means of financing – “doubtless implications for the economies of African states “. Faced with this situation, he continues, the best way to achieve the goal of promoting and expanding intra and extra-African trade is to create an international trade finance institution.
“The accession of our country to this Agreement will allow it to participate in the share ownership of the Bank and to benefit from its financial assistance,” concluded the government of Togo, a member country of the bank for two years already.
As a reminder, speaking in November 2016 at the opening of a business forum of the bank in Lome, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Sani Yaya, announced this ratification for “soon”.
“As a multilateral financial institution created by African States and private African and non-African institutions with the aim of promoting and facilitating the trade of African countries, Afreximbank has, during its 22 years of existence, developed and put in place programs and financing facilities tailored to the different economic sectors and that meet the specific needs of African SMEs and SMIs in terms of financing and regional economic integration, “he said.
It should be noted that the creation of this institution aims to facilitate, finance and develop trade between African countries as well as with the rest of the world.
