Cairo 15th February 2023, - African Export Import Bank (“Afreximbank” or the “Bank”) hosted a delegation led by the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Investment, Trade, and Industry, the Hon. Moses Kuria at its Head Office in Cairo, Egypt. The delegation was received by Mr Denys Denya, Executive Vice President for Finance, Administration and Banking Services.

The discussions covered various matters pertinent to investments, trade and industrial development in Kenya and the East Africa region. Kenya is focussed on increasing her share of manufacturing sector contribution to GDP from 7% to 20% in the next 10 years, share of exports to GDP to 30% from current levels of 10% and increasing FDI from $500m annually to $10bn.

Discussions focused on several key issues including, readiness of Kenya’s public Special Economic Zones and Industrial Parks, including the Dong’o Kundu Special Economic Zone, the Naivasha Special Economic Zone, the Lamu Special Economic Zone, the Nairobi Financial District Special Economic Zone, and the Kenanie Leather Park.

The Honourable Minister also highlighted Kenya’s agenda to roll-out County Aggregation Centers and Industrial Parks across all 47 counties as a way of promoting a value chain approach in facilitating the export led growth economic model and establishing 100 export warehouses globally to provide global markets for Kenyan products. Measures to alleviate the immediate challenges of food and fertilizer sourcing were discussed as well the financing and the activities towards the practical implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (“AfCFTA”).

The Bank expressed its appreciation to the Government of Kenya for the timely participation in the Bank’s USD$2.6 billion General Capital Increase and the meeting also noted progress being made by the Government of Kenya in acceding to the Agreement establishing its subsidiary, the Fund for Export Development (“FEDA”). The minister undertook to speed up the completion of the accession and ratification process of FEDA.

The Honourable Minister emphasised the importance of Regional and intra-African trade and requested the Bank to re-double its efforts in implementing its many initiatives including the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System ( “PAPSS”) which will resolve some of the foreign currency issues bedevilling intra-Africa trade. Given the macro-economic and geo-political landscape, with supply chains experiencing unprecedented disruption, the Bank’s capacity to support Kenya in its food security aspirations ranked high on the agenda, with extensive conversations on the Bank’s import finance facilities to support the Kenya National Trading Corporation (“KNTC”), to enable the company to guarantee sufficient importation of key commodities including grains, edible oils, and fertilizers.

The parties discussed at length what Afreximbank could do to assist the KNTC develop relevant infrastructure including warehousing facilities in the counties, to support aggregation, value-addition and packaging of goods for both local and export markets. Afreximbank briefed the Kenyan delegation on its African Trade Exchange (“ATEX”) project and the meeting agreed to facilitate the immediate onboarding of KNTC and its various partners onto this pan-African commodities supply platform so as to benefit from pooled procurement of key commodities and the attendant financing. The Minister proposed a partnership between ATEX and the Kenya Multi-Commodities Exchange “KOMEX”) programme and Kenyan fintech companies in the value chains to accelerate market linkages between producers and international markets.

The Minister commended Afreximbank for implementing key interventions to support intra-African trade under the AfCFTA such as the PAPSS, the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, Export Trading Companies, the Automotive Programme, the Textiles and Apparel Initiative, the Afreximbank African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme and expressed interest in accessing support under these initiatives. He stated that the AfCFTA offers opportunities for Afreximbank to support its member states and businesses to transition to the new economic landscape and trading infrastructure. This is particularly important to the Government of Kenya as it identifies the MSME economy as a key economic pillar.  

The bank agreed to work with the Ministry to enhance the uptake of the AfCFTA led textile market access facility, the automotive sector $1bn facility and the AfCFTA $10bn Adjustment Fund when its launched.

Denys Denya, Executive Vice President for Finance, Administration and Banking Services, said:

“It is a pleasure and a privilege to host Hon. Moses Kuria and his colleagues at Afreximbank’s Cairo offices. The pressing issues discussed today demand great effort and courage from both parties, and I can assure the honourable minister that Afreximbank has assigned relevant teams to deliver on what Professor Oramah promised HE President Ruto. As a key member state of the Bank and a central pillar of East African trade, I am pleased to re-emphasise Afreximbank’s commitment to Kenya in implementing its national economic regeneration agenda.”

The visit of Hon. Kuria provided the opportunity to review the progress of technical teams from the Bank and counterparts from the ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, as well as representatives from across the ministries of finance and related government departments and institutions. The visit focused on priority projects supporting the GOK’s economic regeneration agenda in pursuit of sustainable and inclusive growth.

The meeting was a follow up to discussions held between the Kenyan President H.E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto and Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, in November 2022 when the latter paid a visit to State House Nairobi to discuss, among other things, the Bank’s ongoing USD$3 billion country programme and its contribution to the country’s national industrialization agenda.