He African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade are working on the implementation of a program on Russian-African economic cooperation, the bank's executive vice president, George Elombi, told Sputnik.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st October, 2018) The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade are working on the implementation of a program on Russian-African economic cooperation, the bank's executive vice president, George Elombi, told Sputnik.
In December 2017, the Russian Export Center has become one of the bank's stakeholders, which made Russia the bank's third largest non-regional stakeholder. The share in the capital is expected to boost Russian exporters' positions in Africa and reduce related financial risks.
"With the Ministry of Industry and Trade, we are planning to implement a program we had been discussing previously on how to enhance Russia-Africa economic cooperation. That was the subject of our discussion in [September]," Elombi said in an interview.
He added that the sides had already discussed preparations for the 2019 shareholder meeting, which is slated to take place in Russia, with an emphasis on boosting cooperation between Russian exporters and their African partners.
Elombi also spoke about plans to organize a trade exhibition to promote Russian goods on the African market, noting that lack of information was the biggest obstacle to trade.
"When most African countries seek to import some equipment of vehicles, their minds do not come naturally to Russia. Their minds go to other areas due to historical and cultural reasons. We think the way to overcome this situation is to provide trade information," he noted.
Elombi, however, stressed that the situation had changed, with African businesses "beginning to see cooperation with Russia as a real opportunity for doing business."
Afreximbank was established in 1993 as a joint venture of African governments, African and non-African private investors and financial institutions in order to develop trade on the continent and outside it.
