President Akufo-Addo has attributed Ghana’s difficult economic challenges partly to the downgrading by the various rating agencies.
He said the country’s current economic can be attributable to the rating agencies because the moves cut Ghana out of the capital market.
Speaking at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Afreximbank in Accra on Monday (19 June), Akufo-Addo said: “I can confidently say as the AU champion for financial institutions and a leader of a country which recently has to deal with one of the most difficult period in its post-Independent history; difficulties which were exacerbated by the reckless behaviour of rating agencies that engaged in procyclical downgrades; shutting Ghana out of the capital market and turning a liquidity crisis into a solvency crisis.
He added: “Afriexembank under its countercyclical response mechanism provided timely support to help Ghana navigate the macroeconomic management challenges worsened by Russia’s aggression of Ukraine in an orderly manner when suddenly we realized we were alone.”
The president commended the immeasurable role of Afreximbank in the country’s economy.
The 30th annual general meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) opened in Accra on Sunday (18 June) with speakers highlighting the need for Africa to boost intra-African trade and integration in the face of the challenges resulting from the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the adverse economic challenges due to the Ukraine crisis and other global conflicts.
The Afreximbank annual meeting (AAM2023), which will end on 21 June, is also being held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Afreximbank.
About Afreximbank
Afreximbank is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.
A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to participate in the AfCFTA effectively.
At the end of 2022, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$31 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$5.2 billion. The bank disbursed more than US$86 billion between 2016 and 2022. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure.
