President
Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar (right) in handshake with Afreximbank
President Prof. Benedict Oramah, after receiving a set of books from
the Bank delegation.
President
Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar has urged the African
Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to partner with the government in
its effort to make the country the “window into a modern Africa”.
Speaking
yesterday in Antananarivo when he received an Afreximbank delegation
led by Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the Bank,
President Rajoelina said that the government had put in
place an “Initiative for Emerging Madagascar” which articulates
its plans to turn the country into a modern industrial nation.
That
document had been endorsed by key internal and external stakeholders
as necessary for the country’s development, he stated. It captured
the government’s vision to become a model for the African continent
and was a reflection of the wind of change that was blowing across
Africa.
“Our
objective is to industrialise Madagascar,” he said, as he
identified energy, tourism and hospitality, agriculture, social
housing, education, healthcare and infrastructure development as the
priority areas where Afreximbank’s support was required.
President
Rajoelina noted that energy costs in Madagascar were among the
highest in Africa and said that the government’s objective was to
produce energy at affordable costs and to double or triple production
capacity from the current 400 megawatts, focusing on renewable
sources.
“Our
key objective is to create an enabling environment for the private
sector to thrive,” he added.
Earlier,
Prof. Oramah said that assessment missions conducted by Afreximbank
in Madagascar had identified transactions valued at about $700
million which the Bank could support with financing.
He
said that the Bank has already held discussions with relevant
ministries and, having understood the constraints on the country, had
developed ideas on how best to provide needed support. The Bank saw
opportunities in the development of industrial parks for export
manufacturing, trade lines to banks, tourism, in the development of
ports, rails, and renewable energy, and in attracting investors into
the country, including by providing guarantees which the government
could offer such investors.
Afreximbank
had developed a special programme for small and medium-scale
enterprises (SMEs) under which it could work with the central bank to
provide refinancing when local banks provided medium-term loans to
SMEs, added Prof. Oramah. The Bank could also help to organize an
investment promotion conference to which investors from other African
countries and from outside Africa could be invited.
Earlier,
the delegation met with Lantosoa Rakotomalala, the Minister of
Industry, Trade and Artisanship, to brief her on the Bank’s role
and approach to Madagascar, and paid a courtesy call on Hawa Ahmed
Youssouf, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African
Union Commission to Madagascar and Comoros.
The
delegation rounded up the visit to Madagascar with a meeting with
representatives of the country’s private sector.
Representatives
of El Sewedy Electric, one of Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade
Champions, joined the delegation for the meeting with President
Rajoelina. The Intra-African Trade Champions programme supports
companies with proven intra-African trade experience and operations
and with value chains spanning across countries with interventions,
which include financing, market access and technical assistance.
Accompanying
President Oramah on the delegation were Rene Awambeng, Global Head of
Client Relations; Obi Emekekwue, Global Head of Communications and
Events; Ekene Uzor, Special Assistant to the President; Humphrey
Nwugo, Regional Chief Operating Officer, Southern Africa; and Gerald
Nsomba of the Intra-African Tarde Initiative. They were joined by Kee
Chong Li Kwong Wing, Group Chairman of SBM Group of Mauritius, who is
also a member of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank.
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