African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) and Banque De Dévelopement des Etats de L’Afrique Centrale (BDEAC), the regional development finance institution established to promote the development of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) formalising their cooperation and collaboration in promoting trade and economic development.

Under the terms of the MoU signed at the just-concluded Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2024) in the Bahamas, the two institutions, which already enjoy a close and long-standing relationship, will expand and strengthen their collaboration and co-operation by joining forces to support the economic development agenda of Africa.

The institutions will also collaborate through a range of interventions and initiatives, including equity participation, facilitation of the identification, preparation and co-financing of projects, capacity building and consultation and exchange of information.

According to the MoU, the new cooperation framework will pave the way for a programme of structural transformation in the CEMAC region through a combination of infrastructure development, sustainability-linked interventions and trade finance.

Speaking on the signing, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development Bank, Afreximbank, said that the MoU constituted an important step in the consolidation of the ongoing relationship between the two institutions and created a formal platform for cooperation on issues of mutual importance.

“In addition to the possibility of cross-shareholdings in our respective capitals, this MoU will enable us to pool our strengths in support of yet more ambitious integration projects, ultimately creating the capacity-building framework necessary for the continued long-term growth of our institutions. Afreximbank is pleased to have found in BDEAC a strategically important regional partner through, and with whom, to expand our interventions in favour of the member states of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) in the context of intra-regional trade and implementation of the AfCFTA,” Mrs. Awani said.

Jean Paterne Megne Ekoga, Vice-President of BDEAC, signed the MoU for his institution alongside Mrs. Awani, who signed for Afreximbank.

AAM2024, which was combined with the third AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2024), ended on 15 June.