The 2022 annual meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will kick off on Wednesday, in the New Administrative Capital.
The official website of the bank stated that Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, will deliver a speech during the opening day, as well as Professor Benedict Orama, Chairperson of Afreximbank.
More than 3,000 high-level banking, governmental, and international personalities are participating in these meetings, which are organized by the Central Bank of Egypt in cooperation with Afreximbank in the presence of central bank governors, African heads of government and ministers, and representatives of international and regional organizations, led by the United Nations, the African Union, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, along with representatives of banks and international experts.
The 4-day meetings will witness the holding of 30 plenary and main sessions, in addition to two exhibitions on the main programs and initiatives to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises within the framework of the African Free Trade Agreement, and the main programs and initiatives of the African Export-Import Bank, which aims to accelerate the process of diversifying African trade.
The meetings will discuss a number of main topics, foremost of which is activating the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the post-Covid 19 stage by benefiting from the energy of youth, as well as the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, as a way to transform towards a changing the future of economic integration on the continent and ways to empower African youth and benefit from their creative energies in achieving economic transformation.
The first day will witness the holding of 5 sessions, starting with the opening session and a speech by Benedict Orama, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank and then a welcome speech by Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt.
This will be followed by the keynote address on Post-Covid-19 Global Supply Chain Realignment and the Ukraine Crisis: Opportunities and Threats to the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, by Michael Spence, Professor of Economics and Business Administration at New York University’s Stern School and Nobel Laureate in Economics.
The first session will be attended by Rami Abul-Naga, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Special Envoy for Financing Agenda 2030, Charles Soludo, Governor of Anambra State, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Albert Muchanga, Commissioner of the African Union for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining, and Rémy Rioux, CEO of the French Development Agency.
Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, will talk about the repercussions of the Ukrainian crisis on African economies and trade in the plenary session moderated by Donald Kaberuka, former president of the African Development Bank.
The fourth session will discuss the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: Africa’s Gateway to Economic Independence, and Howard Nicholas, Professor of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, will speak. In the fifth session, a panel discussion will be held with Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President of Nigeria, on the history and future of Africa’s integration in the world of geopolitical changes.
The second day also witnessed the holding of 5 sessions, including the official opening session of the annual meetings of the African Export-Import Bank, which revolves around the bank’s role in activating the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and supporting the transformation of African economies through trade. Benedict Orama, Chairperson of Afreximbank, speaks at the session.
Meanwhile, CBE Governor Tarek Amer will discuss, during the session, the role of the initiatives of the African Export-Import Bank in supporting development in Egypt.
The second session focuses on discussing activating the work of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The activities of the third day, which will witness 9 sessions, and revolve around empowering African youth to benefit from the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement in the post-Covid 19 era, will begin with a session dealing with inspiring ideas for the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
The third session will witness the launch of the African Trade Report, while the fourth session will discuss ways to benefit from the creative energy of African youth in achieving economic transformation, and the role of development financial institutions and export-import banks in financing entrepreneurship to advance economic transformation in Africa in the era of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
