Nigeria Becomes 16th Nation to Sign FEDA Establishment Agreement

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Nigeria has agreed to sign the Establishment Agreement for the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

The FEDA Establishment Agreement is the development impact investment platform of the lender.

Other countries that have acceded to fund are Rwanda, Mauritania, Guinea, Togo, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana and Egypt.

The addition of Nigeria as the 16th signatory to FEDA underscores the increasing backing the fund, which had its secretariat launched last month, enjoys among African nations.

Afreximbank said the inclusion of Nigeria demonstrates the country’s continued commitment to supporting the lender and FEDA’s missions.

It noted that the new memberships are critical to broadening its scope of interventions and its mission of delivering long-term capital to African economies, with a focus on industrialization, intra-African trade and value-added exports.

The signing of the FEDA Establishment Agreement is expected to pave the way for the ratification of the Agreement in due course. This will in turn bolster FEDA’s interventions in Nigeria.

“We extend our sincere appreciation to the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the signing of the FEDA Establishment Agreement.

“This significant achievement further strengthens the already robust partnership between Afreximbank and Nigeria, one of the bank’s foremost supporters.

“The partnership will enhance investments in sectors critical to the development journey of Nigeria,” the President of Afreximbank, Mr Professor Benedict Oramah, commented.