The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is offering up to $300 million in depositary receipts to private investors to boost capital for lending to industries on the continent.
The bank yesterday said the depositary receipts offerred investors the same rights as normal shareholders, but issuing them did not come with the same regulatory requirements as issuance of normal shares.
Afreximbank’s executive vice president for governance and legal, George Elombi, said the fresh capital would help the bank secure further funds through borrowing, to lend to investors who wish to process African commodities like cocoa growers in Ivory Coast.
“There is a need to do something about the industrial base in the continent. Otherwise we will continue to be exposed to periodic market shocks in export commodities,” Elombi told a news conference in the Kenyan capital.
“The money we are trying to raise is intended to address that particular concern,” he added.
The continent exports most of its commodities in raw form to be processed abroad, curbing its earnings and reducing job-creation opportunities through new factories.
The Cairo-based Afreximbank, which focuses on boosting trade in and with Africa through financing, has assets of $12.46 billion, with $10.84 billion of that being loans.
It is owned by a range of shareholders including African governments and central banks.
The depositary receipts by Afreximbank, which are priced at $4.30 per unit with a minimum investment size of $30,000, are aimed at the sophisticated investor like pension funds.
Kenyan lender CBA Group is one of the transaction advisers for the deal, a representative for CBA Capital told the same news conference.
The offer is open until September 22 and they will be listed on stock exchange of Mauritius on October 4, 2017 allowing secondary trading in the depositary receipts to commence.
