Afreximbank financing could boost Africa’s oil trade

The African Export-Import Bank announced a new financing program that could unlock up to $14 billion of additional oil trade on the continent.

Afreximbank’s $3 billion initiative seeks to leverage the continent’s nascent but growing refining capacity to facilitate trade between African nations, which represents only a small proportion of the region’s exports.

“The continent still imports substantial quantities [of refined oil] from India, the Netherlands, Russia, and China,” David Luke, strategic director at the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at the London School of Economics, told Semafor. “In some cases, African countries buy back refined products that they exported as crude at an increased price markup.”