Afreximbank to host forum in Seychelles |17 October 2015

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is to host its second Annual Customer Due Diligence and Corporate Governance Forum in Seychelles from October 29 to 30.

The aim is to build momentum for a collaborative African approach to addressing the unique challenges confronting African financial institutions in the field of corporate governance and customer due diligence.

The forum, which is being organised in collaboration with the Central Bank of Seychelles, is expected to bring together bankers, corporate entities, regulators and representatives of financial institutions from Africa and beyond to hear expert presentations and take part in panel and open discussions on customer due diligence and corporate governance challenges faced by African institutions.

“The scourge of financial crimes and the negative external perceptions they engender constitute a serious challenge to Africa’s ability to attract foreign investment. This forum gives African financial institutions the platform to develop a collaborative approach to tackling the continent’s unique customer due diligence and corporate governance challenges in order to increase confidence and attract more foreign investment,” said Dr Benedict Oramah, president of Afreximbank.

The forum is expected to give delegates the capacity to conduct effective due diligence on their customers and will enhance the capacity of African financial institutions to develop robust corporate governance structures capable of combating the emerging challenges faced in the continent, added Dr Oramah.

According to the president, lack of confidence in African institutions and poor corporate structures have been among the major reasons why many investors have tended to shy away from investing in the continent.

Jean-Paul Adam, the Seychelles Minister for Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy is expected to chair the opening ceremony which is also expected to be attended by Caroline Abel, Governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles, and other Seychellois dignitaries.

The delegates are expected to proffer solutions for the identified challenges from an African perspective.

This year’s forum follows an initial one held in Dakar from October 28-29, 2014 which led to the establishment of the African Customer Due Diligence Repository Platform (ACDIRP), a centralised source of customer due diligence information on African banks, financial institutions and corporate entities which would be available by subscription.
 
The Afreximbank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade.

The bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors.

Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organisation, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations.  

Since 1994, Afreximbank has approved almost $30 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $3.5 billion in 2013.

Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo.