The African Export Import (AFREXIM) Bank has signed a $1billion memorandum
of understanding (MoU) with the Dangote Group of Companies at the 24th
Annual General Meeting of the bank holding in Kigali, Rwanda.
AFREXIM Bank’s president, Dr. Paul Oramah, said “the deal was part of the
bank’s bid to expand businesses in Africa through disbursement of N9
trillion ($25) billion in the next five years.”
He said, “the bank, had set for itself target of strengthening businesses
in various sectors of the economy within the region to bring a major
change in the prevailing situation whereby once there was crash in
commodity prices, it would send economies of most countries into
recession.
He said the regional bank, which was currently focusing its core strategy
on promoting intra-African trade, promoting industrialisation and export
of manufactured goods as well as maintaining trade financing leadership in
Africa, was already making its business supportive and promotion impact in
many countries within the continent.
The AFREXIM Bank boss, commended the president of Dangote Group, Alhaji
Aliko Dangote for his business efforts describing him as pride of Africa.
Listing Dangote group among the African business Champions, the continent
could boast of Oromah, stated, “A number of African champions have emerged
creating manufacturing capacities and fostering the emergence of regional
and continental supply chains. For instance:
“The Dangote Group has cement plants in about 14 African countries and is
now the largest supplier of cement in Africa. The Group will by 2018 open
one of the largest refineries in the world. The refinery, with capacity of
about 650,000 bpd, can supply the total refining requirements of West
Africa.”
Speaking, Dangote thanked the bank for the loan saying it would be
judiciously utilised in expansion of the group’s investment. He said the
group had investments in 14 African countries adding that its main
business in those countries was cement.
He said in its effort to expand its business frontiers, the group had to
contend with competition, some of which comes from top government
officials of the host countries and that the group had relied on legal
appeals to surmount such problem.
The group, according to him, surmounts problem of high production cost in
most of the African countries by generating its own power directly from
the national grid.
He said even in the midst of the resistance, the group, paid its taxes to
these countries and creates employment for their citizens.
He regretted the existing border challenges in the region adding that 30
per cent of business cost was from border challenges and called for ease
in intra-Afrcan businesses as was the case in Asia and Europe.
He encouraged young investors in the country to believe in their
abilities, adding that this was the beginning of their success.