In order to continue the broadening of its shareholder base targeting African investors, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on Monday 29^th of January 2018 announced the coming on board of Angola-based pan-African conglomerate Aenergy as one of Afreximbank shareholders. This follows its successful subscription to Class “B” shares of the African multilateral trade finance bank.

“The shareholding became effective on 25 January and followed discussions between the Bank and representatives of Aenergy led by the founder, Ricardo Machado, and Jorge Morgado, co-CEOs of the company,” a statement from the bank reads.

Aenergy, which started operations in Angola, is a pan-African “end-to-end solutions provider,” integrating structured financing and aggregated technology to deliver innovative and competitive solutions for new public-private strategic investment in Africa led by main players from the continent, with its current focus being on Angola, Cameroon, Cote d´Ivoire, Ghana and Mozambique.

Aenergy has services spanning project development, procurement, logistics, engineering and execution; operations and maintenance services; and training, industrial manufacturing/assembly, with a long-term commitment to performance-driven technical assistance focused on digitalization to enhance localization and empower the final client.

According to a press release, the company develops projects to the highest international standards and implements projects in several industries, namely gas-to-power energy production, oil and gas, rail transportation, industrial installation and mining services.

Consistent with Afreximbank’s founding philosophy as a public-private partnership, the Bank’s shareholders are a mix of public and private entities divided into four classes and consisting of African governments, central banks, regional and sub-regional institutions, private investors and financial institutions, as well as non-African financial institutions, export credit agencies and private investors.

What you need to know about Class A, B and C shareholding in Afreximbank

• Class “A” shareholders are African states, African central banks and African public institutions, including the African Development Bank.
• Class “B” shareholders are made up of African financial institutions and African private investors.
• Class “C” shares are held by non-African investors, mostly international banks and export credit agencies, while Class “D” shares, a tier approved in December 2012, are shares that can be held by any investor.

What you didn’t know about Afreximbank

• Afrexim Bank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting African trade.
• It was established under two basic constitutive instruments which are the agreement signed by the member states and multilateral organisations, which gives the bank the status of an international multilateral organization and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations.
• The bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors.
• Afrexim Bank commenced operations on 30 September 1994, following the signature of a headquarters agreement with the host government in August 1994.
• Since 1994, it has approved more than 51 billion dollars in credit facilities for African businesses, including about 10.3 billion dollars in 2016.
• Afreximbank has total assets of 9.4 billion dollars as at April 30, 2016.
• The Bank is rated BBB+ (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB- (Fitch).
• The bank is based in Cairo, Egypt.
• Countries currently on the list of Afreximbank participating and shareholding states include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, and Lesotho. Others are Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.