Afreximbank releases $500m for Nigerian exporters
In line with ongoing measures toward the take-off of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the African Export-Import Bank has (Afrexibank) has allocated $500m out of the $1billion Nigeria-Africa trade and Investment Promotion Programme to support Nigerian manufacturers and exporters to take advantage of opportunities offered by the AfCFTA.
The Managing Director, Intra-African Trade Initiative of Afrexim, Ms Kanayo Awani, said the facility is aimed at promoting and expanding trade and investments between Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
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Awani explained that the stimulation fund-$500 million is designed for Nigerian manufacturers and exporters to boost intra-African trade and supports their operations through financing, enabling market access, technical assistance, trade information and advisory services, twinning services and other forms of support to make Nigerian manufactured goods competitive within the continent.
According to her, the bank approved the $1 billion NATIPP financing facility, being done in collaboration with the Nigeria-Export Promotion Council in a bid to ensure that the country’s manufacturers and exporters do not lack credit facility when AfCFTA comes into playfully, since all eyes will be on Nigerian market to show its dominance in the continent’s trade.
The Afreximbank’s head of Intra-African Trade Initiative stated that today, it is traders that make markets, adding that it is estimated that $40-$60 billion of intra-African trade is conducted by informal traders.
“The informal traders have arisen to occupy the space created by the absence of formal trading companies that would have had the greatest positive impact on manufacturing as seen in South East Asia. It is export trading companies, such as Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Samsung and others that helped South East Asian economies export success, by opening markets, creating brands, providing feedback to manufacturers for product improvement and facilitating access to financing”, she said.
