Afreximbank Disburses $200m to Zenith Bank for COVID-19 FOREX Trading Cushioning

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has disbursed $200 million to Nigeria’s Zenith Bank Plc under its Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA).

According to Afreximbank, the funds would enable Zenith Bank to maintain foreign currency trade flows impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and be able to on-lend to eligible sub-borrowers involved in the manufacturing and supply of medical resources needed to combat the pandemic.

Speaking on the facility, President of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, said PATIMFA was designed to support and stabilize the foreign exchange resources of African countries, to enable them to support critical imports under emergency conditions.

He said the Bank was pleased to contribute to keeping economies going especially with the on-going pandemic, noting that supporting Zenith Bank to carry out their mandate was Afeximbank’s greatest contribution to making sure that African countries and institutions build back better from the shocks of the pandemic.

Commenting, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, said the facility would enable the bank to contribute to the fight against COVID-19, by providing trade finance and foreign currency funding for the importation of urgent medical equipment and raw materials.

PATIMFA was set up in March 2020, to provide financing to assist Afreximbank member countries to adjust in an orderly manner to the financial, economic, and health services shock caused by COVID-19.

This three-year medium-term facility has been availed through direct funding. Afreximbank has already disbursed more than $3.5 billion under PATIMFA. The Bank also provided a grant of $3 million towards the COVID-19 Special Fund set up by the African Union as well as to the African Centre for Disease Control and other agencies.