Rwanda gets $10m Afreximbank financing for trade development

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) have signed a $10 million Afreximbank line of credit agreement to support BRD in financing trade diversification and promoting value-added exports in Rwanda’s productive sectors.

According to a press release issued by the Bank and copied to ghanabusinessnews.com, at a signing ceremony held at the Afreximbank Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt September 22, 2015, the Bank’s President, Dr. Benedict Oramah said the new facility was an addition to an existing $15 million facility, bringing Afreximbank’s support to BRD, to $25 million of aggregated financing.

The approval of the facility was part of the Bank’s strategy of facilitating the acceleration of the economic transformation of its member states, Dr. Oramah said.

According to him, the decision to scale up the Bank’s support to BRD was in recognition of the Rwandan institution’s good track record in servicing its obligations under the existing facility.

Alex Kanyangole, the CEO of the BRD, commended Afreximbank for its commitment to driving change in Africa and said that its sustained support to BRD in promoting trade development and fostering the growth of the local private sector in Rwanda was yielding results.

Such collaboration, he explained, underscored the critical role that financial institutions could play in supporting meaningful development in Africa.

The Rwandan Ambassador to Egypt, Saleh Habimana said that Afreximbank’s funding initiatives had developmental impact across Africa and provided opportunities for Africans to improve their lives.

The BRD is a public company incorporated on August 5, 1967 as a provider of long term finance to productive enterprises in the private sector.

By Emmanuel Odonkor