Afreximbank Seeks $200m Equity With 67m Shares Listing On NSE

The Africa Export-Import Bank has announced plans to list 67 million shares (depository receipts) on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and raise $200 million in third quarter of this year. The Cairo-based lender said its plans to sell shares in two other African countries and Nigeria would support lending, improve liquidity and broaden its ownership base.

Nigerian Stock Exchange The Cairo-based lender disclosed this in an email response to questions from Bloomberg. The bank stated: “Afreximbank, which was started in Nigeria in 1993 to finance and promote trade across Africa will list about 67 million existing depository receipts on the Nigerian Stock Exchange to improve liquidity.

“We are in talks with Nigerian regulators to issue depositary receipts and raise equity worth $200 million by the third quarter. We are still considering the other markets and will release details once discussions have been finalized.” A depositary receipt is a negotiable financial instrument issued by a bank to represent a foreign company’s publicly traded securities. The depositary receipt trades on a local stock exchange.

The bank further said, “We approved $3.2 billion of credit for Nigerian companies last year and has received loan applications from more than 30 firms in the West African nation. We are targeting trade, financial services, tourism, manufacturing, export infrastructure and agro-processing for loans.”

“As the Nigerian economy recovers, funding is required to harness the opportunities. We are talking with the Nigerian Export-Import Bank about a joint program that will grow the country’s non-oil exports.

Source: VANGUARD