Africa is increasingly moving to the center stage of global trade as its total trade tops $1 trillion in 2016, says Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). Touting the trade opportunities in Africa, he said that demand for investment goods was high and growing rapidly and that Africa needed an estimated $93 billion infrastructure investment annually for the next 10 years in order to close its huge infrastructure gap. He announced that Afreximbank and the Development Bank of Belarus had put in place an $800 million Belarus-Africa Trade and Investment Finance Facility to provide trade and project financing and risk cover for African and Belarusian entities to support trade between Africa and Belarus. Afreximbank also had risk bearing facilities that could protect Belarusian companies engaged in business and investment activities in Africa, continued Dr. Oramah. Also addressing the ceremony was Igor Brylo, Vice Minister of Agriculture of Belarus, and Ivan Varenitsa, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the Development Bank of Belarus.

Source: News Business Ethiopia June 07, 2017 07:52 UTC