Mubasher: The board of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved the launch of the Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa (UKAFPA) worth $4 billion.
The programme of credit facilities aims to enable African economies and businesses to tackle the impact of the war in Ukraine, according to a press release on Thursday.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis has affected the global economy since its escalation on 24 February 2022 due to the importance of Russia and Ukraine as sources of crude oil and gas, raw materials, and grains.
Hence, the UKAFPA programme seeks to offer import re-order cost adjustment financing to help African countries to address import price increases.
The President and Chairman of Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah, said: "This initiative will contribute immensely to averting social anxiety and upheaval that may arise from looming food shortages and high costs of fertiliser and petroleum products."
The President of Senegal and current Chairperson of the African Union (AU), Macky Sall, commented: "Africa now faces the socio-economic challenges posed by a global context of conflict. Afreximbank has once again shown the way forward by enabling the continent to tackle the impact of the crisis head-on through financing solutions tailored to the specific pressure points facing our member countries."
