The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) closed its 2024 financial year with a remarkable 29 percent increase in net income, reaching $973.5 million compared with $756.1 million in 2023. This performance comes amid a challenging global environment characterized by geopolitical uncertainty, persistent inflationary pressures, and elevated interest rates in major economies. Yet it also reflects the bank’s disciplined execution of its Sixth Strategic Plan, a successful equity-raising campaign, and a landmark foray into Japanese capital markets via its debut Samurai bond.

Strong Top-Line Growth and Income Mix

Afreximbank’s total income climbed by 23 percent to $3.3 billion, propelled by robust lending volumes and a favourable interest-rate backdrop. Net interest income—the difference between earnings on loans, advances and investments versus funding costs—rose by 25 percent to $1.8 billion. This improvement underscores the bank’s ability to manage its borrowing profile effectively, even as global policy rates trended higher through much of 2024.

Fee and commission income also made a sizeable contribution, reflecting increased trade-finance activities and advisory mandates across Africa’s burgeoning intra-regional commerce. Syndications and guarantee fees accelerated in markets from West Africa’s agricultural exporters to East Africa’s infrastructure developers.

Operational Efficiency and Cost Discipline

Despite rising costs elsewhere, Afreximbank contained its operating expenses. Total operating expenses increased by 21 percent to $367.7 million, driven partly by strategic investments in talent acquisition and digital systems to support expanded business lines. Even so, the bank improved its cost-to-income ratio to 18.35 percent, down from 19.09 percent the year before, signaling enhanced productivity and tighter expense control.

Staff training programs—ranging from commodity-trade risk management to sustainable-finance underwriting—helped the bank scale its advisory footprint without a commensurate jump in personnel costs. Investments in cloud-based transaction platforms also trimmed processing times for letter-of-credit applications and disbursement approvals.

Asset Growth and Balance-Sheet Strength

Total assets rose by 7.6 percent to $40.1 billion, up from $37.3 billion in 2023. Growth was broad-based: loans and advances grew in both the trade-finance and project-finance portfolios, guarantees backed an increasing number of cross-border infrastructure deals, and investment securities diversified liquid-asset holdings.

Non-performing loans remained tightly controlled at under 2.5 percent of the performing portfolio, testament to rigorous credit appraisal and risk-monitoring frameworks. Liquidity coverage ratios consistently exceeded regulatory thresholds, while the bank maintained comfortable levels of marketable securities to cushion against any funding-market disruptions.

Capital Raising Under GCI II

Shareholders’ funds swelled to $7.2 billion, buoyed by the record net income and a successful General Capital Increase II (GCI II) campaign. Through GCI II, Afreximbank raised $412.8 million in fresh equity from member governments, private investors and development partners. This capital infusion will underpin the bank’s planned expansion of trade-finance lines, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and co-financing of critical infrastructure under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The bank expects the additional capital to leverage up to five times its own equity in new financing commitments, translating GCI II proceeds into as much as $2 billion in new trade-facilitation and project loans over the next two years.

Debut in Japanese Capital Markets with Samurai Bonds

In a historic milestone, Afreximbank tapped Japan’s yen-denominated Samurai bond market for the first time. The bank raised JPY 67.2 billion across five institutional tranches and a further JPY 14.1 billion in a Retail Samurai issuance. Both issues were rated A- by the Japan Credit Rating Agency, opening the door to a new base of Japanese institutional and retail investors.

The Samurai bonds not only diversify Afreximbank’s funding sources beyond traditional US-dollar and euro markets but also align the bank’s liability profile more closely with the yen-denominated import bills of many African countries. Proceeds from the Samurai issuance will support lending programs in sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture-processing equipment and transportation logistics.

Superior Credit Ratings

Afreximbank’s proactive balance-sheet management and robust profitability earned it a AAA/Stable rating from China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd. This rating marks the highest ever awarded to an African multilateral financial institution and strengthens the bank’s credibility among Asian investors and partners. It builds on Afreximbank’s existing investment-grade assessments from other major agencies, underscoring the institution’s strong capitalization, prudent risk governance and proven track record in trade-finance.

Spotlight on ‘Impact Stories’ Documentary Series

To showcase the tangible benefits of its financing activities, Afreximbank launched “Impact Stories,” a documentary-style series profiling individual entrepreneurs and projects across Africa. Recent episodes featured a women-led cocoa cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire that expanded its membership and upgraded processing facilities with a six-digit loan, and a microgrid project in rural Kenya that brought reliable electricity to three villages, powering small businesses and schools.

These human-interest vignettes aim to bring the bank’s numbers to life, stressing that behind each million-dollar transaction lies new jobs, enhanced livelihoods and stronger linkages between African producers and global markets. The series is distributed across social media channels and corporate websites, fostering greater transparency and stakeholder engagement.

Continental Integration and the Intra-African Trade Fair 2025

As part of its mandate to deepen intra-African commerce, Afreximbank will co-host the Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 (IATF2025) in Algiers from September 4 to 10. Organized alongside the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat, the fair will bring together heads of state, trade-ministry delegations, business chambers, startups and fund managers to explore cross-border opportunities in manufacturing, agribusiness, digital services and tourism.

IATF2025 aims to facilitate deal-making, showcase regional value-chains and promote localized sourcing. Afreximbank plans to unveil new blended-finance instruments at the fair to support chambers of commerce in organizing buyer-seller forums and to underwrite pilot corridors linking North Africa with sub-Saharan markets.

The Sixth Strategic Plan: Pillars of Growth

Central to Afreximbank’s recent achievements is its Sixth Strategic Plan, covering 2023–2027, which rests on four pillars:

1. Expansion of Trade Finance
   
   • Scaling lines of credit to regional banks and export agencies.
     
   • Launching a digital guarantee platform to accelerate the issuance of local-currency trade guarantees.
     
2. Infrastructure and Project Financing
   
   • Co-financing transport, energy and telecom projects under public-private partnership structures.
     
   • Piloting green-project loans aligned with emerging ESG standards.
     
3. SME and Inclusive Finance
   
   • Rolling out risk-sharing facilities to spur lending to small entrepreneurs, women-owned businesses and youth-driven startups.
     
   • Partnering with fintechs to deliver trade-finance products via mobile channels.
     
4. Institutional Capacity and Innovation
   
   • Upgrading core banking systems for real-time transaction monitoring.
     
   • Building staff expertise in climate risk assessment, blockchain applications for trade documentation and sustainability reporting.
     

The strategic plan sets a target to double annual approvals for project and infrastructure financing to $15 billion by 2027 and to increase total in-market assets to $60 billion.

Human Impact: A Case Study

In Ghana, a mid-sized rice miller secured a $25 million facility under Afreximbank’s Green Trade Finance Program to purchase solar-drying equipment and upgrade its paddy-storage silos. The result: annual processed output rose by 40 percent, supply chain losses fell by half, and the company hired 150 additional workers. Such success stories illustrate how targeted financing can unlock efficiencies, create sustainable jobs and foster resilience to climate shocks.

Outlook and Challenges Ahead

While 2024’s results are impressive, Afreximbank faces a mix of opportunities and headwinds in the coming years:

• Climate Finance Demand: African nations have set ambitious renewable-energy targets, but most require concessional capital and risk-sharing mechanisms to attract private investors at scale. Afreximbank is exploring green bonds and climate guarantees to mobilize up to $5 billion in climate financing by 2027.
  
• Currency Volatility: Several African currencies remain susceptible to swings against major reserve currencies. The bank’s growing use of Samurai bonds and local-currency lending partnerships seeks to mitigate this risk, but further hedging solutions may be needed.
  
• Regulatory Evolution: As AfCFTA implementation deepens, Afreximbank must adapt its frameworks to new trade-rules, tariff-reduction schedules and digital-customs procedures. The bank is engaging with regional economic communities to streamline documentation and reduce transaction costs.
  
• Digital Transformation: The ambition to digitize trade-finance end-to-end—from application to repayment—requires substantial investment in technology platforms, data analytics and cybersecurity. Balancing speed to market with robust controls will be critical.
  

Conclusion

Afreximbank’s 29 percent net-income growth in 2024 reflects not only favorable market conditions but, more importantly, disciplined execution of its strategic objectives. By enhancing operational efficiency, diversifying funding sources through its first Samurai bond, securing top-tier credit ratings and raising fresh equity under GCI II, the bank has firmly strengthened its capacity to support Africa’s trade and development agenda. As it prepares to co-host IATF2025 and roll out innovative financing instruments, Afreximbank stands at the forefront of driving the continent’s economic integration, industrialization and sustainable-growth ambitions.

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photo source: Google

By: Montel Kamau

Serrari Financial Analyst

23rd April, 2025