The agreement, which is indicative of ITFC’s ongoing commitment to and trust in Africa, will finance the export of soft commodities, such as raw cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seeds and maize. The financing will provide critical support for the agriculture sector (the continent’s largest employer and a key driver of SME development) of 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Commenting on the Murabaha financing agreement, Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, ITFC CEO, said: “The financing of agricultural exports during these extremely challenging economic conditions will provide a lifeline to exporters affected by the impact that COVID-19 has had on the price of commodities. Hundreds of millions of people in Africa rely on agriculture for employment and many countries’ food security rests on the smooth and affordable import and export of foodstuffs. We thank our financial partners for joining ITFC in this syndication, particularly for their unabated support in this turbulent time, to allocate resources for Africa. This new partnership with Afreximbank will go some way to supporting businesses and ordinary people as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic.”
The Africa region has been a priority for ITFC since its inception in 2008, mandated to answer to the developmental and economic requirements of the member countries in the continent. For this reason, ITFC disbursed US$2.38 billion in Africa in 2019 alone, taking the total since 2008 to US$15.6 billion, helping OIC member countries in the region to achieve sustained economic growth, job creation and value creation in the key export sectors of agriculture, energy and manufacturing.
It is worth mentioning that ITFC first partnered with Afreximbank in 2017 with the signing of a US$100 million agreement with the aim of facilitating and financing exports amongst African countries and between Africa and the rest of the world. Afreximbank is also a key partner in the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program initiated by ITFC, a program with a mandate of enhancing economic integration between the Africa and Arab regions and strengthening SME export development across key sectors.
About the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC):
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (www.ITFC-IDB.org) is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. It was
established with the primary objective of advancing trade among OIC
Member Countries, which would ultimately contribute to the overarching
goal of improving socioeconomic conditions of the people across the
world. Commencing operations in January 2008, ITFC has provided more
than US$51 billion to OIC Member Countries, making it the leading
provider of trade solutions for the Member Countries’ needs. With a
mission to become a catalyst for trade development for OIC Member
Countries and beyond, the Corporation helps entities in Member Countries gain better access to trade finance and provides them with the
necessary trade-related capacity building tools, which would enable them to successfully compete in the global market.
About Afreximbank:
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution with the mandate of financing and promoting intra-and extra-African trade. Afreximbank was
established in October 1993 and is owned by African governments, the
African Development Bank and other African multilateral financial
institutions as well as African and non-African public and private
investors. The Bank was established under two constitutive documents, an Agreement signed by member states, which confers on the Bank the status of an international organization, and a Charter signed by all
Shareholders, which governs its corporate structure and operations.
Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that are supporting the transformation of the structure of Africa’s
trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby
sustaining economic expansion in Africa. At the end of 2019, the Bank’s
total assets and guarantees stood at USD$15.5 billion and its
shareholders funds amounted to US$2.8 billion. Voted “African Bank of
the Year” in 2019, the Bank disbursed more than US$31billion between
2016 and 2019. Afreximbank has ratings assigned by GCR (international
scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1) and Fitch (BBB-). The Bank is headquartered
in Cairo, Egypt.
For more information, visit: www.Afreximbank.com
Link: International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC)