Article
By Alex C
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) shareholders have reinvested $20.5 million recommended by the board of directors as dividends into the equity of the bank, a statement by the bank yesterday.
According to the statement, the decision was taken by the shareholders during the bank’s 21st Annual General Meeting in Libreville, Gabon. It said that the reinvestment would help ensure the bank complied with the minimum capital adequacy ratio target of 20 percent, which it had set for itself.
“The shareholders also approved a general capital increase of $500 million, with 31,068 shares on offer, and issued a mandate to the Board of Directors to work out its implementation. The shareholders asked the Board of Directors to approve the terms and conditions for the issuance of a hybrid capital for the bank,” the statement said.
The bank announced that the total assets of the bank had jumped by 19 percent to $4.4 billion, from $3.7 billion in 2012. The bank’s shareholders’ funds went from $178 million in 1999 to $707 million in 2013.
Interestingly, Afreximbank’s financial strength had enabled it to make a major impact on Africa’s trade and economic development.
“For instance, the largest aircraft acquisition financing mandate in Africa in the amount of about $2 billion was granted to Kenyan Airways in 2012. The mandate was fully executed through multiple award-winning structures, including one of only two US Exim-backed bond structures ever to be implemented in Africa,” the statement added.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.