Christiane Abou Lehaf, The International Cooperation Officer at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced talks with the Central Bank and a number of commercial banks to start activating Egypt’s accession during the second half of this year to the payment and settlement platform launched by Afrexim Bank in January 2022, known as (PAPSS).
This came in statements, Sunday, to journalists participating in the annual meetings of the bank, which were held from 18 to 21 June in Accra, and were reported by the Middle East News Agency.
The official stressed that the accession of Egypt, led by the Central Bank and with the participation of a number of commercial banks, will enhance the opportunities for companies and the banking system to increase trade exchange and investment with African countries in local currencies, and to overcome the biggest obstacle, which is the pressures of the abundance of foreign exchange, noting that Afrexim Bank is making intensive efforts in Executing commercial transactions through the PAPSS settlement and clearing platform, which has made large investments in its technological structure in order to make commercial transactions successful in the shortest time and with a high degree of security.
She explained that Afreximbank has started activating the work of the PAPSS platform with West African countries, which has proven successful in sending and receiving remittances when dealing with trading partners in African countries in the currency of each country.
The African Export-Import Bank “Afreximbank” had expressed its expectation that 15 to 20 countries would join the African Payment and Settlement System by the end of the year, Bank President Benedict Orama said in statements ahead of the bank’s annual meetings in Accra, as the platform started commercial operations with 9 Countries signed so far.
Orama said that the system known as “PAPSS” uses dollar exchange rates at the present time, adding: “But we are working with central banks to develop an exchange rate mechanism” that would allow the 42 African currencies to be convertible among themselves.
The vast majority of intra-African trade takes place through remittances into dollars, and initiatives such as PAPSS and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which would create the world's largest free trade area by area, seek to boost intra-trade by reducing barriers, including So the need to transact in dollars.
On the other hand, the international cooperation official at the African Export-Import Bank stated that the total portfolio of cooperation with Egypt is estimated at about $25 billion until the end of last September, equivalent to 25% of the total financing portfolio of the bank, which aimed to support the financing of intra-trade with African countries (export and import). ) and direct investments and various other development sectors.
She stated that these financings took place in recent years with the strengthening of great interest on the part of Egypt in cooperation with African countries, and the subsequent increase in the work of Egyptian companies in African countries.
In this regard, Abou Lehaf explained that the bank has succeeded over the past years in providing liquidity rates of foreign exchange to Egypt through cooperation with the Central Bank and Egyptian banks, and financing Egyptian businessmen and companies to expand their business in African countries, noting that these large funds provided to Egypt It is due to being the largest contributor to its capital, followed by Nigeria out of the total 52 African countries contributing to the capital of the Bank, apart from members from the private sector and African and international banking financial institutions.
She - who belongs to the founding generation of the bank 30 years ago - noted that Afrexim Bank has taken Egypt as its headquarters since 1993 with the aim of creating links between African countries to achieve common interests, trade exchange and direct investments, as well as strengthening African ties with the outside world.
She stated that the bank was able to remove the two most important obstacles that hinder Egyptian companies from expanding their business in the African market. They lack of knowledge about other partners and the crisis of financing trade with the rest of the African countries and the guarantee of exports.
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