PRESS RELEASE

Ghana’s President Mahama urges strengthened support from Afreximbank

Afreximbank President Designate Dr. Benedict Oramah (right) with Ghanaian President John Mahama.

Accra, 03 July 2015 – Ghanaian President John Mahama today in Accra urged the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to further strengthen its trade finance support to the Ghanaian business sector, particularly in the areas of agro-processing and pharmaceuticals.

                Speaking when Dr. Benedict Oramah, President Designate of the Bank, paid him courtesy call, President Mahama highlighted the increasingly important roles of those sectors in the country’s economy and also called on the Bank to increase its involvement in Ghana’s manufacturing, construction, renewable energy and other key sectors.

He commended Dr. Oramah on his appointment as the next President of the Bank and pledged Ghana’s continued commitment to working with Afreximbank to achieve its objective of promoting intra and extra-African trade.

                Earlier, Dr. Oramah announced that Afreximbank had approved financing totaling about $2 billion for the Ghanaian government, corporates and financial institutions since 1993, with annual approvals increasing from $6.5 million in 1994 to $280 million in 2014.

                “As at October 2014, Ghana was the sixth largest beneficiary of the Bank’s funding programmes,” said Dr. Oramah, who noted that the support had been mainly directed toward the energy sector, the financial sector, the agro-processing and industrial development sectors and to the promotion of higher local value-added in Ghana’s extractive industries.

                The credit facilities provided by the Bank included a $150 million loan facility to the Volta River Authority to support capacity expansion and refurbishment activities and a further $300 million facility under negotiation; $70 million to a Ghanaian company to enable it offer mining and engineering services to international mining companies; $100 million to the Bank of Ghana to address short-term liquidity challenges; and $70 million to two Ghanaian-owned cocoa processing companies, he said.

                Dr. Oramah announced that Afreximbank was considering a framework to scale up its intervention in the Ghanaian economy in recognition of the opportunities offered by the relatively stable socio-political and economic environment.

“The package shall include foreign exchange liquidity support to facilitate essential imports and deal with the transitory challenges as well as term funding to strategic sectors towards the realization of the country’s long-term development agenda,” he explained.

                Dr. Oramah was accompanied on the visit by Kofi Adomakoh, Director of Afreximbank’s Project and Export Development Finance Department, and Joy Albright of the Legal Department.

               

President John Mahama of Ghana (centre) joined by (L-R) Mona Quartey, Deputy Finance Minister, Kofi Adomakoh, Director, Project and Export Development, Afreximbank, Dr. Benedict Oramah, Afreximbank President Designate, and Joy Albright of Afreximbank Legal Department