President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah, has disclosed Afreximbank disbursed a total of $50bn in Nigeria over the past decade.
According to him, the funds helped to make significant contributions to the country’s key sectors, including energy, manufacturing, healthcare, transport, and financial services.
Oramah stated this this during the commissioning of the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre in Abuja, on Thursday.
He noted that the bank’s investment has been crucial in expanding the non-oil sectors of the economy.
The Afreximbank president said $19 billion of the total amount disbursed had been invested in Nigeria’s financial services sector, which has grown significantly over the years.
“Over the last decade alone, total disbursements into Nigeria amounted to about $50bn, spreading across vital sectors of energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, transport, and financial services,” Oramah said.
The AATC Abuja, which is the first of its kind, is a key component of Afreximbank’s broader strategy to create a network of trade centres across Africa and the Caribbean.
The $120 million facility, which began in November 2021 and was completed within 41 months, is designed to promote trade and investment by facilitating regional integration and enhancing connectivity between Africa and the Caribbean.
Oramah pointed out that the AATC will serve as a platform for boosting intra-African trade, saying, “This centre will act as a lighthouse for interconnections, providing a digital gateway that will enable businesses across Africa and the Caribbean to connect, collaborate, and trade.”
The AATC Abuja will offer a wide range of services, including a technology incubation hub, an SME incubation facility, a Digital Africa Trade Gateway, as well as conference and exhibition spaces.
“This facility is a hub for turbocharging Nigerian businesses’ engagement in the African Continental Free Trade Area,” Oramah added.
Oramah said the Afreximbank was looking to expand its network of trade centres, adding that the next AATC will be launched in Harare, Zimbabwe, in August 2025, with others planned for Kampala, Uganda, in 2026, as well as Cairo, Egypt, and Yaoundé, Cameroon, in the near future, and that these centres would be instrumental in reshaping Africa’s economic future.
He listed other initiatives Afreximbank is pursuing in Nigeria including the upcoming opening of the African Medical Centre of Excellence in Abuja, a $750 million state-of-the-art medical facility developed in partnership with King’s College Hospital, London, which will provide advanced healthcare services in oncology, cardiology, and haematology.
Oramah also disclosed that Afreximbank had recently opened a $200 million facility to support the creative industry, helping Nigeria boost its exports of creative content across Africa and the world.
