Afreximbank Executive Reflects on a Decade of Landmark Trade and Infrastructure Financing Across Africa

A senior banking executive at the African Export-Import Bank (African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)) has reflected on a decade of work supporting major trade finance, infrastructure, and industrial projects across Africa, describing the experience as both “humbling” and transformative for regional economic development.

Speaking during the bank’s annual Founders Day event, the executive highlighted a 10-year career marked by financing deals spanning ports, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and cross-border trade logistics across West and Southern Africa.

Among the notable transactions recalled was the financing of a $100 million expansion and modernization project at the Onne Port for the Intels Group in 2016, followed by structured financing in 2017 for the acquisition of 1,550 trucks supporting Dangote Group operations in Ghana and Tanzania, aimed at enhancing intra-African cement trade within ECOWAS and COMESA regions.

Over the decade, the executive also cited involvement in large-scale industrial and energy developments, including support for refinery and petrochemical growth projects in Nigeria’s Lekki Free Trade Zone and the Niger Delta. These include emerging refinery developments such as the Azikel Refinery project, as well as downstream and upstream energy transactions involving companies such as Heirs Energies, Oando, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Limited).

In the fertiliser and agro-industrial sector, the executive referenced financing and support for production expansion involving Indorama Corporation, Dangote Fertilizer, and Notore Fertilizer, aimed at strengthening agricultural value chains across the continent.

The reflection also highlighted commodity export and trade financing support provided to cocoa and cashew sector players including Sunbeth, Johnvent, and Starlink Global in Nigeria, as well as Plot Industries in Ghana (Ghana). These interventions were positioned as part of broader efforts to deepen Africa’s export competitiveness.

Infrastructure financing activities were also cited across The Gambia (Gambia), Liberia (Liberia), and Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone), where hundreds of kilometres of roads were developed to improve regional trade connectivity.

The executive further noted Afreximbank’s role in stabilising African economies during global shocks, including the 2018 commodity downturn, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia–Ukraine conflict, through the provision of credit lines, cross-currency swaps, and letters of credit support to governments, central banks, and commercial institutions.

In addition, he referenced advisory and governance roles as a pioneer non-executive director in the development of the African Medical Centre of Excellence and the African Quality Assurance Centre, both initiatives aimed at strengthening healthcare capacity and standards on the continent.

Concluding the reflection, he expressed gratitude to colleagues and mentors over the past decade, while announcing a transition to a new leadership role overseeing regional operations across 13 Southern African countries, describing it as the beginning of a new professional chapter.