Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 04, 2023 (SKNIS): Establishing a partnership with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will create opportunities for investment and trade in St. Kitts and Nevis, said Minister of State, the Honourable Isalean Phillip, during her presentation in the Federal Parliament on Tuesday, April 04, 2023.
Minister Phillip was at the time lending her support to the Caribbean Community and Africa Export-Import Bank (Agreement for the Establishment of a Partnership) Bill, 2023, which was successfully passed in Parliament.
The Bill seeks to give full effect to the agreement for the establishment of a partnership between CARICOM Member States and Afreximbank. The Afreximbank Partnership Agreement was first introduced in September of 2022 during the inaugural Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) held in Bridgetown, Barbados.
“What this agreement with the Afreximbank does is provides us with an additional, new and alternative, very reliable, reputable, credible source for investment into our future and we are doing it with a bank that shares a similar history and identity of what it means to be a developing nation,” said the Honourable Isalean Phillip. “It is very beneficial for us here to establish a partnership with this bank because what it will do is provide us with a different option in terms of investment and trade financing. So, you know we can liken the Afreximbank to other international financial institutions such as the World Bank which we know that a lot of Small Island Developing States go to for financing…” she added.
Minister Phillip said she welcomes the new opportunities that the bank has to offer.
“With this new partnership, what it means is that for St. Kitts and Nevis, is that we are now further diversifying our sources for investment which is actually very important for us,” said Minister Phillip. “We know we do need to seek to diversify our economies so that we can have newer markets to have opportunities for financing that do not always come with high conditions or conditions that are not particularly beneficial to us in our local context.”
According to https://sipp.unido.org/, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Multilateral Financial Institution established in 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors as well as non-African financial institutions and private investors for the purposes of financing and promoting intra and extra African trade. The Bank is a Pan African Exim Bank with a mission “to stimulate a consistent expansion, diversification and development of African trade while operating as a first-class, profit-oriented financial institution and a centre of excellence in African trade matters”.
