JEDDAH — The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) signed a line of financing agreement for a $100-million facility on Sunday (Dec. 24) in Jeddah.

The $100-million line of financing facility will be utilized by Afreximbank to provide Shariah-compliant financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in its member countries in Africa. Afreximbank has a solid pipeline of projects in the industrial, communication, technology, health care, construction and agricultural sectors that would be financed by the ICD line of financing.

Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of ICD, commented: “The proposed financing facility is a token of a good partnership between ICD and Afreximbank, with the purpose of supporting private sector businesses with a Shariah-compliant facility structure in our common African member countries.”

“This facility will give a boost to our effort to implement our current strategy which prioritizes intra-African trade; intra–African investments and export manufacturing of the labor intensive type,” said Amr Kamel, executive vice president at Afreximbank. “It will also promote our knowledge in Islamic finance and provide us with additional maneuvering capacity in terms of product offerings to our clients.”

The key economic and financial developmental impact will be on developing the private sector, especially SMEs, to help expand economic growth based on value creation, and promoting Islamic Finance based on the pipeline of AFREXIMBANK projects. The facility is also expected to have an impact on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line with ICD’s strategic objectives.

The ICD is a multilateral organization and a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. The mandate of ICD is to support economic development and promote the development of the private sector in its member countries through providing financing facilities and/or investments. ICD also provides advice to governments and private organizations to encourage the establishment, expansion and modernization of private enterprises.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the leading 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. Since 1994, it has approved more than $51 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $10.3 billion in 2016.