Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Export Credit Bank of Türkiye (Türk Eximbank), have signed an agreement to increase inter-regional cooperation and investment & trade between Türkiye and Africa. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the just concluded 4th Türkiye -Africa Business & Economic Forum in İstanbul.
Through the partnership, AFC and Türk Eximbank will jointly finance cross-border trade and infrastructure investments between Türkiye and Africa, through mechanisms including credit lines, risk participation, guarantees, co-financing, and tenor extension.
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The partnership will also be aimed at knowledge exchange through advisory services, staff exchange programs, and jointly hosted seminars and conferences on trade and infrastructure development.
AFC President & CEO, Samaila Zubairu commented, “We are pleased to deepen our already strong relationship with Türk Eximbank, an institution that shares a similar vision to accelerate Africa’s path to a prosperous future,” He further emphasized “Our partnership framework will pave the way for increased bilateral trade and infrastructure investment between Türkiye and Africa with a focus on beneficiating Africa’s abundant natural resources to increase value capture, create local jobs and drive rapid industrialisation on the continent,”
In recent years, AFC has worked closely with several Turkish Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPCs) to finance and develop infrastructure projects in Africa, including a 300 MW Combined Cycle Gas (CCG) plant in Senegal, and the development and construction of an 80MW peat fired Independent Power Project (IPP) in Rwanda.
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Ali Güney, the CEO of Türk Eximbank stated, “As Türk Eximbank gives utmost importance to its operations on the African Continent, we are more than happy to sign this MoU with AFC, one of the most distinguished institutions regarding Africa’s sustainable development. I am confident that this MoU will be another step to strengthen our relationship with AFC based on a win-win partnership. Our collaboration on concrete projects will be mutually beneficial in terms of increasing trade volumes and contribution to the continent’s development.”
Türkiye is now considered one of the leading development and trading partners of Africa, with trade volumes reaching USD 40.7 billion in 2022, up from USD 5.4 billion in 2003. In addition, the total contract value of projects undertaken by Turkish companies across Africa topped USD 85 billion in 2022.
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