Guinea signs establishment agreement of Fund for Export Development in Africa

The Republic of Guinea has signed the Agreement for the Establishment of the Fund for Export-Development in Africa (FEDA), a development impact-oriented subsidiary of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). The Establishment Agreement was signed on 31 March 2021 by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ibrahima Khalil Kaba, on behalf of the Republic of Guinea. Guinea becomes the third signatory of the Establishment Agreement after Rwanda in November 2020 and Mauritania in January 2021. To complete the FEDA Legal Establishment process, two Afreximbank member states are required to sign and ratify the Establishment Agreement. The signing of the Agreement by Guinea is a highly significant step as it enables FEDA’s Legal Establishment procedures to progress towards completion.

The Establishment Agreement grants FEDA legal capacity to conduct business in its own name as an international organisation with privileges and immunities accorded to other Multilateral Financial Institutions on the continent. Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, and Board Chairman of FEDA said: “We at Afreximbank greatly appreciate the signature of the FEDA Establishment Agreement by the Republic of Guinea, marking another major milestone in the FEDA Establishment process. This notable action has added the required momentum in support of the establishment of FEDA as a new multilateral development platform on the continent.”

FEDA was established by Afreximbank to catalyse Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows into Africa’s trade and export sectors and to fill the equity funding gap that amounts to US$110 billion per annum in the areas of Intra-African trade and Export Development. FEDA aims to provide equity financing to companies operating in key industries and sectors to significantly increase the likelihood of success in delivering on Afreximbank’s development priorities and meeting the Bank’s strategic goals under the main pillars of the intra-African Trade Strategy and the Industrialisation and Export Development Strategy.