TheCable

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says it is hoping that Nigeria will increase its shareholding in the bank.

Benedict Oramah, president of the bank, made this known to journalists on Wednesday while addressing journalists on the sidelines of the ongoing annual meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Nigeria is still a major shareholder of the bank although of recent it has fallen back in terms of its relative position,” he said.

“That is why we had these discussions with the minister of finance to see how Nigeria can return to the position they were and we’ve gotten an assurance that the Nigerian government will look at it and we hope that Nigeria’s shareholding will come to the levels that reflect the size of the Nigerian economy.

“Every holding of Nigeria is a Nigerian affair in terms of the Nigerian government, they are number three today. They always have been number one or number two. Egypt and Zimbabwe are number one and two.”

Sharing details of their meeting, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, said the government will look into increasing its shareholding in Afreximbank.

“Nigeria is a major shareholder in the bank, part of the things we discussed is the possibility of increasing our shareholding and also we discussed some of the programs and projects Afriexim is supporting in Nigeria. Afriexim has a very large portfolio in Nigeria, about 40% of their portfolio is Nigeria. They provide support to the government but largely to the private sector.

“That we will need to consider increasing our shareholding in the bank because there is a lot of value that we are getting from Afriexim bank.”