Boss
Mustapha, Chairman of the Afreximbank Annual General Meeting of
Shareholders (centre), and Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict
Oramah (2nd left), with (L-R) Executive Vice
Presidents Dr. George Elombi, Denys Denya and Amr Kamel, during the
Annual General Meeting in Moscow.
The
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will pay a total of $69
million to its shareholders as dividend from its 2018 earnings,
according to decisions reached during the Annual General Meeting of
Shareholders (AGM) of the Bank which ended in Moscow today.
The
shareholders also appointed one new member to its Board of Directors
and decided to retain Nigeria, which has been its Chairman since the
last meeting in Abuja in 2018, in that position for one more year.
In
another decision, the AGM approved the Bank’s 2018 Annual Report
which includes the 2018 Financial Statements.
In
his report to the AGM, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of
Afreximbank, said that the Bank’s total revenues rose by 24 per
cent in 2018 to reach $806 million while the net income increased to
$276 million, representing a 26 per cent increase on the level in
2017.
The
Bank’s total assets, including contingent liabilities, went up by
15 per cent from $13 billion in 2017 to $15 billion in 2018, said
President Oramah. That profit performance reflected strong growth in
interest and fee income from diversified sources by geography and
financial products.
He
informed the shareholders that during its extra-ordinary session in
Nouakchott in July 2018, the African Union Heads of State Summit had
approved the accreditation of the Bank to the AU, allowing the AU to
adopt most of the Bank's flagship initiatives as continental
initiatives. That action would help to accelerate adoption of such
initiatives at the national level, thereby improving the pace of
implementation at lower cost.
Prof.
Oramah explained that the accreditation was a privilege which was
previously enjoyed only by the African Development Bank and the
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
The
end of the AGM marked the conclusion of the Bank’s 2019 Annual
Meetings (AAM2019) which started on 20 June with the seminar and
meeting of the Advisory Group on Trade Finance and Export Development
in Africa, declared open by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
On
21 June, Dimitri Medvedev, Chairman of the Government of the Russian
Federation, had addressed the opening session of the AGM.
AAM2019
was held under the theme “Harnessing Emerging Partnerships in an
Era of Rising Protectionism” and deliberated on such topics as: How
South-South trade can be a path to Africa’s integration into the
global economy; Multilateralism in the current global economic order
of protectionism; and The role of investing in Africa’s
infrastructure in accelerating intra-African trade and economic
development.
Highlights
of AAM2019 include the launch of the African Trade Report 2019; the
launch of the Afreximbank Export Trading Company Strategy; and a
half-day programme of activities dedicated to Russia–Africa
investment cooperation. A number of trade agreements were also signed
at the event.
AAM2019
marked the second time Afreximbank Annual Meetings would take place
outside Africa. The 2012 Annual Meetings were held in Beijing.
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