— Says bank ready to finance battery production, faults foreign rating agencies, hails Dangote Refinery
Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
The President and Chairman of the Board of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Dr. George Elombi, has urged African countries to stop exporting raw lithium and instead develop a thriving electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing industry on the continent.
Speaking at the bank’s Mid-Year Media Roundtable in Abuja, Elombi said Africa must leverage its vast mineral resources to drive industrialisation and economic development rather than exporting raw materials.
He said Afreximbank was ready to finance the establishment of EV battery manufacturing plants across the continent.
“African mineral resources must work for Africa’s development. EVs are the future of transportation, and the use of lithium to produce EV batteries is taking centre stage in the EV industry.
“Africa must take its position in the EV industry. We have lithium. We should produce EV batteries at home. We simply have to produce them here. There is enough money in Africa to manufacture batteries in Africa.
“If you know anyone who is interested in EV battery production, bring them to me. But if you see someone looking for funding to export lithium, don’t bring them to me,” he said.
Elombi also called on African governments and institutions to work together to repatriate African capital held abroad and channel it into the continent’s development.
He stressed that African resources and investments should primarily serve Africa’s economic transformation.
Faults Western Rating Agencies
The Afreximbank president accused some international credit rating agencies of maintaining a biased perception of Africa and consistently underrating African financial institutions despite their improving financial strength.
He said some rating agencies initially dismissed Afreximbank as too small and questioned its trade finance mandate, arguing that trade could not drive development.
“They were questioning the very treaty that established the institution and gave it its mandate. We could not accept that. They also seemed to suggest that trade could not drive development, whereas trade has always been the bedrock of economic growth,” he said.
According to Elombi, Afreximbank has since proved its critics wrong by expanding its operations and becoming one of Africa’s leading development finance institutions.
He noted that one of the rating agencies had revised its assessment after acknowledging the bank’s growing role in financing trade, infrastructure and economic transformation across Africa.
“From being considered irrelevant in 2014, they now acknowledge that Afreximbank has become highly relevant and even too important to fail because of its strategic role in Africa,” he said.
Elombi argued that some Western rating agencies continue to assess African institutions using outdated assumptions, particularly regarding liquidity and risk.
He explained that Afreximbank had deliberately diversified its funding sources away from traditional Western markets by securing financing from Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
According to him, Western funding, which previously accounted for about 80 per cent of the bank’s borrowing, now represents only about 12 per cent, while Asia and Africa each contribute about 38 per cent, with the Middle East accounting for around 12 per cent.
He said some rating agencies had interpreted the reduced reliance on European capital markets as a weakness.
“When we depended largely on Western liquidity, they said our funding profile was diversified. Now that we have genuinely diversified our funding sources, they claim our liquidity has weakened simply because we are not borrowing as much from the Eurobond market. That does not make sense,” he said.
Elombi maintained that funding from Asia and Africa had proved reliable, more affordable and better aligned with Africa’s changing trade patterns.
He disclosed that Afreximbank also introduced a central bank deposit programme to mobilise idle African capital held overseas, attracting deposits from African central banks and corporate institutions.
According to him, the bank deliberately built excess liquidity ahead of anticipated global economic shocks to ensure it could continue supporting African commercial banks when international financing became constrained.
He said that despite acknowledging the bank’s strong liquidity position, some rating agencies still downgraded its liquidity profile because it had not recently issued Eurobonds.
“We raised funds where they were cheaper and more accessible to support African trade. The fact that we chose not to borrow from the Eurobond market at a particular time should not be interpreted as financial weakness,” he said.
Elombi urged that African financial institutions should be assessed based on their fundamentals and developmental impact rather than traditional Western benchmarks.
Hails Dangote Refinery
The Afreximbank president also praised the Dangote Refinery, describing it as a model for Africa’s industrial development.
He reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to supporting the refinery following the $2.5 billion financing deal signed in March and pledged additional support as the company expands into other African countries.
According to him, Africa needs more large-scale industrial projects similar to the Dangote Refinery to achieve sustainable economic growth and self-reliance.
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