BY COBHAM NSA – The Senior Executive Vice President of the Africa Export-Import Bank (AfreximBank), Denys Denya, has raised an alarm that the same antagonistic forces that resisted its creation in the 1990s are gathering again to frustrate Africa’s development in different format.
Accordingly, Denya says urgent and united efforts are required to fortify Africa’s home-grown institutions against the re-emergence of these conflicting forces.
Denya, who spoke at the 32nd Annual Meetings of the bank on Wednesday in Abuja, said there must be strategic resolve, collective purpose, and deliberate action toward industrialisation in the face of global volatility.
Putting his submission in perspective, the Senior Executive Vice President said, “I want to remind us that the establishment of the African Export-Import Bank was Africa’s response to the confluence of crises during the time but was met with fierce resistance, both from internal and external forces, those whose goal it was to perpetuate the culture of dependence and underdevelopment of the continent.
“Over the past three decades, the resilience of the bank has been anchored on courage and determination, clear foresight, and a firm belief in its vision.
“It is against this backdrop that the 2025 annual meetings are aptly themed ‘Building the Future on Decades of Resilience’.
“Some of you may ask, why this[GA1] theme? Three decades after its establishment, the very combined forces, drawn from both within and without, that opposed the creation of the bank in the lead-up to its establishment have metamorphosed into various shapes, with the sole objective of undermining this great institution.”
Further explaining the rationale behind the theme, he said it was also influenced by current global developments: heightened geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation and realignment, increasing protectionism crystallised by tariff wars, blatant disregard for rules-based multilateral trade, and heightened policy uncertainty.
For him; “The time to be deliberate about industrialisation with a view to promoting value addition to Africa’s exports has never been more urgent. While diversifying the continent’s export basket, efforts must also be directed at diversifying export destinations. We must improve regional trade through the AfCFTA.
“With intra-African trade hovering around 16 per cent, the AfCFTA offers a unique opportunity to accelerate the structural transformation of the continent’s economies by scaling up the manufacturing base.
“We need to forge new trading partners and strategic alliances to leverage our collective strengths, resources, and expertise for shared prosperity.
“New partnerships and strategic alliances will contribute to enhancing access to new markets, offer competitive advantages, and increase innovation. Accordingly, South-South trade and investment promotion should be high on the agenda.
In recent times, AfreximBank has been in the news over its downgrade from ‘BBB’ to to ‘BBB-’ with a negative outlook.
However, the continental bank has rejected reasons advanced for the downgrade, the same position taken by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an instrument of the African Union (AU) Member States.
