News Release: At First Business Forum In DRC, Afreximbank Promises Support For Local Entrepreneurs

 Dr. George Elombi, Afreximbank Executive Vice President (1^st right), with other invitees at the forum

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will support the effort to achieve industrialisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and to expand the involvement of local entrepreneurs in the major sectors of the economy, Dr. George Elombi, Executive Vice President of the Bank, announced in Kinshasa.

Speaking during the opening of the first business forum to be organised by Afreximbank in DRC, Dr. Elombi said that the Bank’s intervention in the country would focus on agriculture, energy and extractive industries, infrastructure, and support to small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to him, these have been selected because they have a critical role to play in creating an industrial base with strong value addition and in the diversification of the national economy. A strengthened industrial base and diversification are among the key pillars of the Intra-African Trade Strategy which the Afreximbank launched recently.

Henri Yav, Minister of Finance of the DRC, noted that the forum was taking place at  a time when the global economy remained volatile and difficult, particularly for producers of primary commodities, like the DRC. To address that challenge, the country had decided to promote the diversification of the economy in order to strengthen its resilience  against internal and external shocks, he said, adding that the DRC’s ratification of the Afreximbank Charter was done in that context.  

Also speaking, Albert Yuma, President of the National Federation of Businesses in the Congo, said that the support of regional and continental institutions like Afreximbank, was indispensable for the achievement of the economic emergence of the DRC, especially in terms of responding to  the short, medium and long-term capital needs of actors in the local economy.

The forum brought together institutions, banks and businesses from the various sectors of the Congolese economy along with representatives of goverment agencies involved in the development of trade.

The event is part of an awareness campaign being organized by Afreximbank in its member countries to enhance knowledge about its products and programmes and to strengthen collaborative networks, gather insights about the needs of the business community and expand trade finance activities.

Obi Emekekwue

Afreximbank External Communications