Additional $500M to help African Trade
July 2, 2009
Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The African Development Bank (AfDB) said it will provide an additional $500 million to banks in Africa to finance trade. The AfDB allocated $500 million for the same purpose in March. This second investment will go through the Global Trade Liquidity Program.
Trade finance has long been integrally tied to international banking, but became unavailable in 2008 as banks could no longer raise funds and instead shied away from risk.
In total, the GTLP will amount to $5 billion and will finance up to $50 billion in revolving trade finance operations during the following three years. The AfDB claims that $15 billion will be utilized in Africa during this same time period.
-Daniel Smart
