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Chuks Udo Okonta
The next edition of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Weekend will be held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire taking place 25-27th November 2022, said Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), who described the creative industry as a bankable market.
Addressing participants at the 29th Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2022) in Cairo, Prof. Oramah said that the creative industry had the power “to catalyse intra-African trade, create millions of jobs for the continent’s young population, and promote the emergence of national and regional value chains.”
He hailed the power of creatives to spur industrial development, and said that Afreximbank instituted the CANEX programme to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries in a manner that would revolutionise the continent’s untapped talents.
“The CANEX programme represents an opportunity to unlock the best of Africa,” said Prof. Oramah as he gave assurance of Afreximbank’s continued support to the creative economy. He encouraged the youth of Africa to attend. “Come to us. We will support you.”
Mrs Kanayo Awani, Managing Director of Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Initiative, said: “The cultural and creative industries have merged to create one of the most dynamic sectors of the global economy.”
AAM2022, which runs through Saturday, 18 June 2022, is being held under the theme ‘Realizing the AfCFTA Potential in the Post-Covid-19 Era by Leveraging the Power of the Youth’.
The meetings are being attended by business and political leaders, banking industry professionals, trade and trade finance practitioners and other parties involved in economic development from across Africa and beyond. The Meetings have been ranked among the most important gatherings of economic decision makers in Africa.
About Afreximbank
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Afreximbank is working with the AU and the AfCFTA Secretariat to develop an Adjustment Facility to support countries in effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of 2021, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at about US$25 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$4 billion. Afreximbank disbursed more than US$51 billion between 2016 and 2021. The Bank has ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
