West Africa needs import, export bank, Says Chambas

Story: Boahene Asamoah

THE President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, has proposed the establishment of a West African Export and Import (WAEXIM) Bank to promote trade within the sub-region.
Dr Chambas said the proposed bank would directly grant short, medium and long-term loans to exporters under a co-financing syndication arrangement with eligible banks.
The proposal stems from what, Dr Chambas said, was the “constraints militating against our effective utilisation of the openings under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) due to inadequate financing.”
He said “the WAEXIM bank should also aim at fostering a sustainable expansion and diversification of ECOWAS trade.”
Dr Chambas announced the proposal at the first Regional Conference on Trade Finance for Non-traditional Exports in West Africa in Accra on Tuesday.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission said, such a bank should provide facilities such as direct lending, rediscounting and refinancing facility for the promotion of trade in the region.
According to Dr Chambas, banks in the sub-region advanced insufficient loans to small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) that prevented them from undertaking huge transactions.
“It is, therefore, necessary to upgrade this project to the level of a financial institution designed to take care of the trade financing needs of the region”, the President of the Commission stated.
He acknowledged that in spite of efforts of traders and business people in the sub-region intra-West African trade remained at very low levels that undermined the march towards a common market.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, in a speech read on his behalf by the Chief Director of the Ministry, Nana Juaben-Boateng Sirebour, said the government would continue to pursue policies that would create the enabling environment for businesses to grow.
He commended Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for their initiative to support the growth of the SMEs in the sub-region.
The USAID West African Mission Director, Mr Henderson Patrick, said access to finance was critical to SMEs development and growth in the sub-region.
He said 300 entrepreneurs from six countries in the sub-region had undergone training to equip them with skills that would help them to access finance from the financial institutions.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana Limited, Mr Samuel Ashitey Adjei, said access to finance for SMEs was critical, adding that there was the need for a more aggressive strategic approach to diversifying export commodities to ensure growth of African economies.
The conference which was organised jointly by ETI and the USAID brought together stakeholders to deliberate on how to finance SMEs using the USAID model.