Africa Collective returns to Davos in 2025: Afreximbank joins Patronage Partner AfCFTA Secretariat as Host Partner

Switzerland, Davos, September 30, 2024: Africa Collective and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat are happy to announce African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank or the Bank) as their Host Partner at Davos 2025, on the margins of the World Economic Forum.

The strategic partnership between Afreximbank, Africa Collective and the AfCFTA Secretariat was borne out of a mutual vision to showcase public and private sector trade and investment opportunities present in Africa on a global platform. It also underpins the importance of mutually beneficial global collaborations toward realising Africa’s development.

Africa Collective is a platform for pan-African and international stakeholders that was established to facilitate exchange of information and ideas on the opportunities in Africa as well as encourage collaboration among its stakeholders. 

The 2025 Davos edition of Africa Collective’s gathering will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel Davos and will be made up of a series of events, including thematic roundtables and networking receptions. Various African institutions are expected to be in attendance.  

While commenting on the partnership announcement, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Afreximbank said: “The Bank is pleased to join Africa Collective and the AfCFTA Secretariat as a Host Partner at Davos 2025. We trust the partnership will increase the visibility of the continent and facilitate high-quality engagements with development partners on the sidelines of the event. The World Economic Forum is a critical platform for discussing key global and regional challenges and now, more than ever, it is important for Africa to be at the table, when those discussions are ongoing. We welcome collaborations such as this one, as it will help us drive our collective continental Agenda as well as better shape the African narrative.”

“As Africa Collective’s Patronage Partner, we are excited to have Afreximbank join as a Host Partner. Given the Bank’s impressive history and wide African and diaspora footprint, we are confident of this partnership’s impact in bringing African topics into sharper focus at Davos and beyond,” highlighted H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General, AfCFTA Secretariat.

After a successful series of five events organised in Davos in 2024, Africa Collective, Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat look forward to amplifying their pan-African-led activities at Davos 2025.

Please visit the LinkedIn page for more information about Africa Collective and for updates on new partnerships and activities in Davos and beyond.

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About the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat

The AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight (8) Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately US$ 3.4 trillion. The AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, the African Union’s long-term development strategy for transforming the continent into a global powerhouse.

The AfCFTA Secretariat coordinates and facilitates the implementation of the AfCFTA agreement among African states.  It also engages stakeholders to promote the AfCFTA and undertakes trade and investment promotion activities to enhance intra-African trade, among other duties.

For more information, visit: www.au-afcfta.org

About Afreximbank

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA.

Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (together, “the Group”).

The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com

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About Africa Collective

Africa Collective is an information, exchange and collaboration platform for Africa. Its network, events and publications are focused on advancing the African continent globally. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat is the Patronage Partner of the initiative. Africa Unlimited is the Management Partner of the initiative.

Africa Collective was formed during a high-level business roundtable on Africa in Davos, Switzerland, at the time of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in January 2020. Based on the impactful discussions between pan-African and global leaders held on the occasion, Africa Collective was formally launched together with the AfCFTA Secretariat as a patronage partner and in the presence of H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, at an inaugural luncheon held on 19 January 2023.

The Africa Collective Davos presence was scaled up in 2024 to include a whole week of activities, including thematic sessions, a cocktail reception and a closing & outlook luncheon, bringing together CEOs and senior executives representing leading international and pan-African companies and African Ministerial delegations. Africa Collective Davos 2024 was supported by Lead Partners Novartis and Standard Bank; partners Old Mutual Group, Tristar Group and Ringier AG; supporting partners OmniBiz and Fin; and media partners Business Insider Africa (Lead Media Partner), CNBC Africa and African Business.

For more information, visit: www.africacollective.com