Afreximbank taps Islamic finance to support Africa trade

The African Export-Import Bank has raised around $260m via three sharia-compliant facilities to support the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises in the region, as African markets gradually open to Islamic finance.

The Cairo-based Afreximbank, which was founded by African governments and other investors in 1993 and focuses on trade finance, obtained a $100m financing from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.

Afreximbank said it would use the facility to provide sharia-compliant financing to small- and medium-sized enterprises across its member countries.