The Republic of South Africa, on Tuesday,officially acceded to the Establishment Agreement of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Africa’s leading multilateral financial institution, heralding deeper financial sovereignty.

A statement by Vincent Musumba, communications and events manager, Afreximbank, said the accession followed the South African Parliament’s historic approval of the accession in 2025.

Mr Musumba said the accession would cement a strategic partnership between Africa’s leading multilateral bank and the continent’s industrial powerhouse.

He said South Africa became the 54th state to accede to the bank’s Establishment Agreement.

“This constitutes a historic milestone as the two partners seek to unlock trade opportunities within a global financial architecture that is rapidly fragmenting due to protectionist policies and shifting trade blocks,” he said.

Mr Musumba said to operationalise the partnership, Afreximbank would unveil major financial interventions in the country.

He said the intervention included a new $8 billion country programme designed to deepen the South African economy.

Mr Musumba said these programmes were tailored to expand the bank’s developmental impact, enhance industrial development and regional supply chains and significantly boost intra-African trade and investment flows.

“This support is strategically aligned with South Africa’s economic ambitions.

“As the continent’s highest regional contributor to intra-African trade, accounting for 19.1 per cent of the continent’s total trade in 2024, South Africa is uniquely positioned to leverage Afreximbank’s trade infrastructure.

“South Africa will also leverage the bank’s expertise and pan-African reach to extend its export relationships across the continent,” he added.

Meanwhile, George Elombi, president and chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, hailed South Africa’s membership as a ‘decisive step’.

“This affirmation of the membership of South Africa in Afreximbank marks a decisive step towards uniting around the continent’s economic interests, the interests of our mother continent.

“South Africa’s membership of the bank, while providing Afreximbank a full continental coverage, brings the country into the heart of Afreximbank’s vision and its aspirations to promote the change so much desired in the structure of Africa’s trade.

“I am, therefore, pleased that together with the South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), under the leadership of Hon. Minister Parks Tau, we have put together what we consider an important package of $8 billion for South Africa.

“The country programme is aligned with South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030 and national industrial and trade priorities and targets key strategic areas,” he said.

Mr Elombi added that Afreximbank’s current pipeline of projects in South Africa, at different stages of review, exceeded $6 billion, spanning the healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, energy, industrial and mining sectors.

Also, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa was quoted saying: “Today we mark a major milestone in our quest to realise what I would call the economic integration of our continent.

“South Africa’s accession to the African Afreximbank affirms our commitment to African industrial development and to deepening trade, investment and development across our continent.

“Once finalised, the South African-Afreximbank Country programme will be operationalised with a finance package that will initially support a range of strategic projects across the trade and industrial cluster.”

Mr Ramaphosa said one of the areas that would be focused on immediately was to give muscle to the country’s transformation fund.

“This is to support Black businesses who, by the way, were held back by the apartheid system from being active participants in the economy of our country,” he noted.

He said for more than 30 years, Afreximbank has demonstrated ability, resilience, and innovative capability, but it has more than that; it has demonstrated that it has had an impact.

“This partnership will strengthen in more ways than one South Africa’s ability to support South African exporters, industrial projects and regional value chains while advancing our continent’s progress,” he added.

Mr Musumba said following the announcement, both South Africa and Afreximbank had resolved to jointly pursue trade and economic development programmes.

He said key among them were the South Africa-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme (SATIPP), the Afreximbank Guarantee Programme, and the financing of industrial parks and special economic zones.

Others are export trading company financing – project and asset-based finance, conventional trade finance, Afreximbank project preparation, and financing devised to support the creative and cultural industries, as well as a broad range of advisory services.

(NAN)