SEVERAL Zimbabwean bankers were in Abuja, Nigeria last week, for Afreximbank’s 32nd annual meetings.
Afreximbank’s annual meetings are regarded highly by bankers and policymakers, which has seen them attending without fail, with this year’s event attracting 7 000 attendees.
The number includes presidents and prime ministers from Africa and the Caribbean, former presidents, ministers, bankers, the private sector and the media.
It is the third annual indaba attended by a team from the Caribbean after the African Union designated the African diaspora as the continent’s sixth region.
Afreximbank also has a diaspora strategy, which has seen the bank expanding into the CARICOM bloc.
Resultantly, 12 CARICOM States have signed the Afreximbank Establishment Agreement, becoming partner members of the bank. A 13th country will be joining next month.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, was at the annual meetings, so was billionaire and philanthropist Tony Elumelu.
The A-list included Africa Finance Corporation president and chief executive officer Samaila Zubairu, Vista Bank founder Simon Tiemtore, among others. Vista is one of the fastest-growing banks, taking over where foreign banks are exiting the continent.
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These are hard-to-get executives because of their busy schedules. They were there for serious corporates and countries to engage.
For Zimbabwe, this appeared to be a missed opportunity. Despite the galaxy of delegates at disposal, there were a handful of Zimbabwean bankers at the annual meetings.
At a time when the buzzwords are intra-African trade, local bankers and the private sector were expected to come out of their cocoons and look at the bigger picture: the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create a market with over 1,3 billion people. The market will expand if we add the CARICOM bloc.
It is at the annual meetings where deals are signed, with sovereigns and banks signing facilities with the Cairo-headquartered bank. Banks get Afreximbank loans for on-lending to various sectors of the economy.
Afreximbank, the African Union and AfCFTA Secretariat are pushing a local currency payment and settlement system, which is billed to save the continent US$5 billion annually in transaction costs.
The Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is seen as a game-changer.
While the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is among the first central banks to join the platform, local banks are joining in dribs and drabs.
Six local banks have joined the PAPSS platform, which means the rest will join when they see that “the coast is clear”.
By then, others will have moved to another level.
PAPSS is being piloted in the Caribbean, which means the bloc is seeing value in the platform more than local banks.
For the economy to grow, we need to be aggressive in our approach. At a time when the world is deglobalising, with US President Donald Trump singing the America First hymn, our survival lies in the combined strength of Global Africa.
This includes being on the table where matters concerning the continent are discussed. Fortune favours the bold. No one other than ourselves will save us.
