This article is sponsored by Afreximbank
Denys Denya
Senior Executive Vice-President
Global Africa, to me, is about harnessing the collective strength of Africa, its people, and the diaspora to fuel sustainable economic growth. It is about recognising that all Africans wherever they may live are connected and when united can be a potent force for their own economic development.
The African diaspora isn’t just a market – it’s a powerhouse of trade, innovation, culture, creative spirit and entrepreneurial solutions that can drive the continent forward. Their contributions go beyond billions in annual remittances – they bring invaluable skills and expertise while building a bridge between Africa and the global world.
I am excited about what the Bank is doing to fully harness Global Africa’s potential. My primary focus is on tapping into this potential by mobilising deposits from the diaspora, including the Caribbean, and assisting our member countries to issue diaspora bonds. By leveraging diaspora resources and capital, we aim to enhance economic integration and build a resilient, thriving African economy.
Ensuring that our bank remains sound, with enough liquidity to finance quality and strategically-aligned Global Africa transactions is a key priority for me. I am also interested in creating collaborations that drive innovation, technological development, and skills development to enable Africa to thrive in this, the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
George Elombi
Executive Vice-President, GLCS
Africa is not just a continent but a shared identity that unites Africans around the world. It is said that human life originated from the African continent. Thus, some have even gone so far as to say all humans are African! But even with the narrower definition of African, it is a fact that Africans have migrated and settled across the globe, and, for that reason, Africa is indeed global.
The Global Africa Agenda aims to promote cooperation among Africans worldwide. It is in furtherance of this agenda that Afreximbank signed the Partnership Agreement between Afreximbank and the CARICOM states.
The Agreement and the concrete steps taken thereafter by Afreximbank to implement its terms, represent the economic and human face of the decision made by African heads of states to recognise the African diaspora in the Americas as a sixth region of the continent.
Reconnecting to our shared ancestry through trade is the mantra. The Agreement has therefore helped to foster economic cooperation with Africans at large. The office continues to lead the drive for all CARICOM states to sign up to the Agreement.
Kanayo Awani
Executive Vice-President Intra-African Trade and Export Development
For us in the Bank’s Intra-African Trade and Export Development Bank, “Global Africa” signifies a connected and empowered African driving economic growth and cultural exchange worldwide. It embodies a unified African presence that leverages the strength and talents of its people, no matter where they are.
Afreximbank is at the forefront of this vision through its Diaspora Strategy, that draws from its flagship Intra African Trade Strategy whose definition, includes the trade of goods and services between or among African countries and the flow of goods and services between Africa and Africans in the Diaspora. Key initiatives include providing financial services tailored to diaspora needs, facilitating market access for African and diasporan businesses, promoting cultural and skills exchange, and undertaking diaspora studies. This strategic approach not only enhances economic development but also strengthens cultural ties, propelling the Global Africa agenda towards a prosperous future.
Since ACTIF 2022 and the opening of our offices in Barbados in 2023, we have witnessed an increase in trade flows. For example, African hospitality operators have begun to invest in the Caribbean Tourism sector; Investments in aquaculture and fishery are also ongoing. The Bank has financed the development of sports infrastructure in Barbados, climate adaptation in St. Lucia; and is progressing a pipeline in excess of $2 billion.
Haythem ElMaayergi
Executive Vice-President, Global Trade Bank
A Global Africa, as we see it at the Global Trade Bank, is a stronger and wider version of Africa that harnesses the power of global trade and investment flows, the Africa that represents a landscape in which its stature in global trade and investment attraction is elevated to its true potential, and the Africa that can leap into the digital world to maximise the potential of those flows.
On the trade flows side, at the Global Trade Bank, our efforts towards promoting a Global Africa is to expand the Global Trade Bank services to the Caribbean and wider diaspora market. We will work to help them issue bonds, arrange syndicated loans as well as expand their access to trade finance and the divers digital products Afreximbank currently offers to Continental Africa.
This effort is further supported by the establishment of the Africa Trade Risk Exchange (ATREX) for secondary risk, to increase the global appetite on African and Caribbean risk.
On the investment flows side, it is how we are growing our Advisory and Capital Markets services range by introducing and increasing the number of investment-banking products, diversifying targeted geographies, and partnering with global and local banks to ensure the growth of investment flows coming into Africa and the wider African Diaspora.
Lastly, on the digital leadership front, it is how we are helping our market exit the fog and ride the digital-era wave, where we shift a sizeable part of the trade finance business to the digital world and provide companies and banks with an integrated experience, as they perform trading and seek finance.