The new President of Afreximbank, Dr. Benedict Oramah, on Monday said the 120 billion dollars African trade financing deficit would not be a problem during his tenure.

Oramah told a news conference after his inauguration as the president of the bank in Cairo that the financing deficit was not entirely of trade, but also of infrastructure development.

He said that the growing financing gap was normal for a developing continent like Africa which required infrastructure.

He said that many financial institutions in the continent had failed to bridge the gap because of limited resources and their penchant for short-term project financing.

The bank boss pointed out that infrastructure development in Africa needed long-term funding and promised that Afreximbank was up to the challenge.

He said that the bank could reduce its short-term activities and increase its long-term loans to bring infrastructure to the Africa.

“We will develop other strategies, while other development finance institutions will join us.”

Oramah said that there was a healthy relationship between Afreximbank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), stressing that AfDB was actually the founder of Afreximbank.

He said that AfDB had substantial shareholding in Afreximbank and often granted lines of credit to it.

He also said that AfDB was a permanent member of the board of Afreximbank and that the two development finance institutions were collaborating strongly.

Oramah disclosed that Nigeria had the largest shareholding in Afreximbank, but that the country did not have a lending window in the bank.

He said that the bank was supporting many activities in the industrial sector of Egypt, adding that there were plans to also support projects around the Suez Canal.

He said that the bank had disbursed half of the 500 million dollars Egypt African Trade Finance Programme and was planning to increase the funding to 1 billion dollars. (NAN)

•Photo shows New President of Afreximbank, Dr. Benedict Oramah