Afreximbank seeks to expand intervention in Ethiopia by engaging with business communities

Addis Ababa, May 30, 2025 (FMC) – The African Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank) expressed  desire to expand its intervention in Ethiopia beyond the banking sector by engaging with the business communities in order to unpack the Bank’s tried and tested programs.

Afreximbank’s East African regional office will hold a roadshow, themed “Empowering Ethiopia’s growth: Catalysing Trade, Investment and Industrialization through tailored Afreximbank solutions,” in Addis Ababa, from 2-3 June.

Afreximbank is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution established in 1993 with a broad objective of promoting intra- and extra-African trade.

The Bank boasts of 53 African member states as well as 12 Caribbean member states, enabling it to further extend its funding activities and programs to states within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Afreximbank has seven regional offices located in key markets across Africa and the Caribbean covering operations in respective sub-regions, namely Egypt, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Barbados.

Ethiopia is a founding member state of Afreximbank that ratified the Afreximbank Establishment Agreement in 1994.

The bank said in a statement that in the past five years, the Bank has facilitated intra- and extra-regional trade transactions valued at US$ 4.7 billion through various financial institutions in Ethiopia using the Afreximbank Trade Facilitation (AFTRAF) program.

In 2024, the Bank settled international trade payments valued at US$ 32 billion on behalf of Ethiopian companies through the Afreximbank Trade Payment Services (AfPAY) program.

Afreximbank’s East African regional office, located in Kampala, Uganda, will hold a roadshow, themed Empowering Ethiopia’s growth: catalysing trade, investment and industrialization through tailored Afreximbank solutions Addis Ababa, from 2-3 June.

The bank stated that Ethiopia is a strategic country in East Africa and, indeed, the entire African continent. It is the continent’s 10th largest country, with an estimated population of 129 million people, making it Africa’s second most populous country.

Afreximbank is, therefore, seeking to expand its intervention in Ethiopia beyond the banking sector by engaging with the business communities (both private and public) in order to unpack the Bank’s tried and tested programs and solutions that can, potentially, foster development and drive economic growth in key sectors, notably manufacturing, agribusiness, infrastructure development, energy and tourism, among others.