Malawi Accedes to the Establishment Agreement for Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA)

Kigali, 31 October 2024: The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the development impact investment arm of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has announced the Republic of Malawi's accession to the FEDA Establishment Agreement.

This key milestone reflects the Fund's growing support across Africa, bringing the total number of participating countries in FEDA to eighteen. Malawi's accession to FEDA highlights the Fund's growing momentum, following the recent accession of Benin, Nigeria, Ghana, the Arab Republic of Egypt and Equatorial Guinea among others, to its membership.

New memberships are crucial to broadening the scope of FEDA's interventions and advancing its mission of delivering long-term capital to African economies with a focus on industrialization, intra-African trade and value-added exports. The rapid growth of FEDA reflects the strong support and confidence African states have in its mandate.

Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank and Chairman of the Boards of both Afreximbank and FEDA, commented: "We welcome the Republic of Malawi to the growing FEDA family. This step lays the groundwork for an enhanced and more effective cooperation and gives the country better access to the full range of interventions offered by Afreximbank Group. The dividends of Malawi's accession are best illustrated by the launch of the Magwero Industrial Park project, being developed by Arise IIP in collaboration with Afreximbank and FEDA. The project which aims to unlock Malawi's manufacturing export potential represents a significant investment in the country."

Marlène Ngoyi, Chief Executive Officer of FEDA, said: "The signing of the FEDA Establishment Agreement builds on FEDA's investment in strategic projects in Malawi, through Arise IIP, that aim to promote industrialisation, intra-African trade and value-added exports. FEDA will continue supporting Malawi to foster an environment that promotes economic diversification and enhances value-added production."

FEDA's recent key strategic investments across the continent, include a further USD300 million capital injection in Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP) in October 2024, its strategic investment in Team Drogba, competing in the inaugural E1 Series, the world's first-ever all-electric boat racing championship and the partnership with the Republic of Malawi in June 2024 to develop the Magwero Industrial Park to expedite Malawi's industrialization process.

Media Contact:

Vincent Musumba

Communications and Events Manager (Media Relations)

Email: [email protected]

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About FEDA:

The Fund for Export Development in Africa ("FEDA") is the impact investment subsidiary of Afreximbank (www.afreximbank.com), set up to provide equity, quasi-equity, and debt capital to finance the multi-billion-dollar funding gap (particularly in equity) needed to transform the Trade sector in Africa. FEDA pursues a multi-sector investment strategy along the intra-African trade, value-added export development, and manufacturing value chain which includes financial services, technology, consumer and retail goods, manufacturing, transport & logistics, agribusiness, as well as ancillary trade enabling infrastructure such as industrial parks.

About Afreximbank:

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa's trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank's total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$104 billion between 2016 and 2023. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody's (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, "the Group"). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.