A senior government official said Thursday that Zimbabwe is banking on the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre (AATC) to exploit regional and continental markets as it pushes for sustainable growth.
The pan African bank is pushing for the establishment of the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centres (AATCs) that will act as the lighthouses to guide the interconnections and flow of trade and investments within continental Africa and between Africa and the Caribbean regions, according to its president and chairman of the board of directors, Benedict Oramah.
The Abuja AATC was commissioned on Thursday, with the Harare AATC earmarked for an August opening. More AATCs will be in Kampala (Uganda), Cairo (Egypt), Yaoundé (Cameroon), Tunis (Tunisia), Kigali (Rwanda) and Bridgetown (Barbados).
Sheillah Chikomo, Foreign Affairs and International Trade deputy minister, said the trade centres will facilitate cooperation and partnership among African states for mutual benefit.
“As we gather to witness this launch, we hope to leverage on the powerful trade ecosystems in the establishment of the Afreximbank Africa Trade centres to exploit regional, continental and global markets and business opportunities,” she said at the launch of the Abuja AATC on Thursday.
“The launch comes at a time when Zimbabwe is focusing on enhancing value addition and beneficiation in key sectors such as agriculture and mining to transform Zimbabwe into a prosperous upper middle income society by 2030.”
Zimbabwe, she said, “reaffirms its commitment to the bank’s sterling efforts in promoting trade and investment in Africa”.
“We commend the bank for remaining a strong pillar of support to the ethos of pan Africanism and South-South cooperation. In the Sadc region we call this ubuntu,” Chikomo said.
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She said Zimbabwe joins other African countries in commending Afreximbank for its “continued bold pro-active facilitation of trade and investment in Africa and beyond”.
Chikomo said Zimbabwe was committed to pursuing sustainable economic growth and transformation through continental integration and the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centres form a critical component for the “success of this endeavour”.
“We cherish such an opportunity for mutually beneficial partnerships that help propel Zimbabwe, and indeed, Africa forward on the continental and global economic front,” the deputy minister said.
