Stakeholder Newsletter

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IN THIS EDITION

The bank’s vision, mission and strategic objectives are outlined in this edition. Also highlighted is the Bank’s strategic focus.

Highlights of GEXIM’s interventions and activities

Ghana’s economy, in the near and medium term, focusing on sustaining the country’s trade surplus gains.

General News:Ghana’s Economic Outlook:

GEXIM’s Strategic Direction:

VOL. NO: 1 ISSUE NO: 1AUGUST 2018

THE GHANA EXPORT- IMPORT BANK (EXIM)

The Ghana Export-Import Bank (EXIM) is a Corporate Body established by the Ghana Export-Import Bank Act, 2016 (Act 911).

The objective of the Bank is to Support and Develop Directly or Indirectly Trade between Ghana and other Countries, and also Build Ghana’s Capacity and Competitiveness in the International Market-place.

The Bank’s Operational Functions are summarized under the following three Categories:

a. Support for International Trade

i. Creditii. Overseas Investmentiii. Market Advisory Services

b. Building Ghana’s Capacity in International Trade Market

i. Supplier’s and Buyer’s Creditsii. Export Financeiii. Import Finance (Manufacturing of Goods for Export)iv. SME Financing (Agro-processing and Export)v. Equity Financingvi. Domestic Investment (Support of Export or Import)vii. Export Product Development and Capacity Buildingviii. Other Financial Services

c. Facilitation

i. Guaranteesii. Insurance

We look forward to Working with Businesses and Entrepreneurs Operating within the Bank’s Mandate areas with a view to Facilitating Ghana’s International Trade.

Contact: Kumasi: 0578594352/ 0578594351Accra, Head Office: 0302234668/9 Takoradi: 0312002263Tamale: 0372 028053 Ho: 0362 028392

3GEXIM NEWS LETTER

1. Chief Executive’s Message 2. Mission, Vision and Strategic Goals 3. Board Structure 4. Management Structure 5. Strategic Direction of the Bank 6. EXIM BANK: A Major Driver to the

Attainment of Ghana Beyond Aid 7. GEXIM’S Activities over the last 18 months 8. Beneficiary Profile (Ekumfi Pineapple) 9. The Cashew Industry in Ghana 10. Ghana’s Economic Outlook 11. The Alliance Between Ghana Exim Bank

and Exim Bank of India

12. Quick Read

• Inauguration of the GEXIM Board • GEXIM Team accompanies VEEP to China • GEXIM participates in AfriExim Bank • Deputy General Manager, attends a 3-day retreat • Management meet stakeholders

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S MESSAGE

I welcome you to the maiden edition of the GEXIM Newsletter. This Newsletter dubbed “GEXIM Newsletter” shall be published every quarter to inform stake-

holders about the Banks pro-grammes and activities. The Ghana Export Import Bank Act, 2016 (Act 911) was passed in the first quarter of 2016 and assented to by the President in March of the same year. Following the passing of the Act, the President constituted the Board and appointed a Chief Exec-utive to begin the process of tran-sition from the erstwhile EDAIF to GEXIM Bank. Since assumption of office of the current Management in March 2017 and the subsequent inaugu-ration of the Board in August 2017, a lot has been achieved. Opera-tional manuals and procedures for the bank have been developed. The model for operating the Bank, which was outlined in the Ghana Export-Import Bank Presidential Task Force Report submitted to His Excellency, the former President of the Republic, has been reviewed and approved by the Board for im-plementation.

In our attempt to learn from inter-national best practice and to better understand the global trend in the operation of Export Credit Agencies (ECA) around the world, the bank has participated in the International ECA conferences in the USA Rwan-da and India, and the AfDB annual conferences in South Korea. Partic-ipation in the AfDB conference in particular enlightened us about the development agenda of AfDB for African and how GEXIM can posi-tion itself to leverage funding from the bank to promote Ghanaian busi-nesses. As a development bank with focus on export-led financing, the bank has, since its establishment in 2016, supported investors and compa-nies in selected areas of the econ-omy with low cost funds to retool, improve operational efficiencies and produce exportable goods. The Bank has so far approved an amount of GHC417 million for over twenty-two small and medium scale businesses across the country en-gaged in poultry and pharmaceuti-cal sectors. Others are engaged in tree crop production (avocado and cashew), brick and tile manufacture, fertilizer manufacture and the pro-duction of sweet potatoes and pine-apples among others. Guided by the vision of Ghana Be-yond Aid, GEXIM Bank is poised to contribute to the transformation of the economy through the facilita-tion of export of Ghanaian products and services and the importation of essential machinery and innovative technology to develop the econo-my. We invite all to support the bank with feedback, suggestions and constructive criticism towards the achievement of our shared goal of developing Ghana. We promise to use this mechanism to keep our stakeholders updated on our corporate activities, pro-grammes and strategies. Please do count on us.

DIRECTORS OF THE BANKThe governing body of the Bank consists of the Board of Direc-tors. This is the highest decision making organ of the Bank.The governing body of the Bank is made up of the following:

• A Chairperson • The Chief Executive Officers

of the Bank • A representative, not below

the rank of a Director, each from the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Industry, Bank of Ghana, and Ghana Export Promotion Authority

• A representative from a

recognized major private sector industry association

• Two persons from the private

sector with at least one being a woman

The Executive Management of the Bank is made up of the Chief Executive Officer, who is the Head of Management, and assisted by two (2) Deputy Chief Executive Officers. They are appointed by the President in accordance with Article 195 of the Constitution and are respon-sible for the day-to-day business and administration of the Bank.

Executive Management of the Bank

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STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE BANK

About GEXIMPursuant to Government’s agenda to make Ghana an ex-port led economy; the Ghana Export-Import bank, Act 2016 (ACT 911) was passed. The mandate of GEXIM is to support and develop directly or indirect-ly trade between Ghana and other countries, and to build Ghana’s competitiveness in the international marketplace. GEXIM does this by providing trade finance facilities (funded and nonfunded), export ca-pability creation facilities, and research and advisory servic-es to exporters. The Bank also facilitates finance for exporters with guarantees to their banks, to help them secure loans and contract bonds towards ful-filling their export contracts. Typically GEXIM supports Ghanaian businesses to improve their competiveness by helping them to secure the necessary credit and financial services when the risk is too high or ca-pacity is constrained for private sector sources of finance. Prod-ucts and services offered by GEXIM are complementary and not substitute to that provid-ed by the commercial market. GEXIM partners with the com-mercial banks to fill the financ-ing gap left by these commer-cial funding sources.

Through its products and services, GEXIM has become an important contributor to the achievement of sustainable economic development for Ghana.

MissionTo facilitate the transformation of Ghana’s economy into an export driven one, finance the import substitution efforts and over-seas investments, while eliminat-ing critical markets failures in the economy thereby making Ghana competitive in the global market place.

Strategic FocusThe Bank complements private sector lending by providing financ-ing and support for transactions that would otherwise not occur because commercial lenders are either unable or unwilling to ac-cept the commercial risks inherent in the deal.

In line with the bank’s mandate and the Ghana National Export Strategy, Management of the Bank have prioritized the value chains of cashew, pineapple, cassava, oil palm, mangoes, shea butter and the poultry sector for sup-port. The Bank’s focus in respect of these agricultural value chains are on planting material develop-ment, plantation establishment and maintenance, value addition through processing and facilitation of access to regional and interna-tional markets.

Value addition to Ghana’s tradi-tional exports of cocoa into cocoa paste and butter, minerals (gold,

Strategic ObjectivesOur strategic objective is to facilitate the transformation of Ghana’s economy into an export-led one through the promotion of export of stra-tegic goods and services, and overseas investment by Ghanaian companies. Our key objectives are to become the;

• Principal Export Institution - Act as the principal export finance institution of Ghana, supporting and enhancing trade.

• Promote Cross Border Trade - Be a key player in the promotion of cross border trade and investment.

• Provide Finance – Provide development finance in the form of debt and equity finance for exporters, es-pecially small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).

• Partner Businesses - Play a major role as a partner to Ghanaian businesses in their industrial and export development, production, marketing activities.

To become a strong financial in-stitution that will be a key engine in industrialization and the devel-opment of Ghana, facilitate cross border trade and make Ghana a pillar in regional and continental trade.

Our PurposeVision diamond etc) into jewellery

and the promotion of Ghana’s higher education within the West African Sub-region have also been prioritized by the Bank for support. GEXIM seeks to achieve these targets through a com-bination of credit enhance-ment product such as guar-antees and insurance, and debt financing.

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Governments of both developed and developing economies have pro-vided direct export credits, insurance and guarantees through Export Credit Agencies in support of national export development agenda. As the argument goes, if private commercial banks were willing and able to finance foreign trade entirely, then there would be no justifica-tion for government intervention in the sector.It is because private commercial banks are unable to duly fi-nance the sector due to the high risks involved that Export Cred-it Agencies are created to provide strategic support to make exports of a country competitive in the international market.

According to the Ghana Export Promotion Authority Ghana’s ex-port sector has evolved significantly over the past two decades. In line with the nation’s industrialization agenda a number of non-tra-ditional export products have assumed significant importance in the country export basket e.g. Cashew, avocado, sweet potato etc.

The Presidential Task Force for the establishment of the Ghana Ex-port-Import (Ghana EXIM) noted in its report that since 1992, the government of Ghana considered the policy option of diversifying and promoting an export-led growth strategy in the non-traditional export (NTE) sector to widen the export base of the economy.

CONCEPTIONThe Presidential Task Force for the establishment of the Ghana Export-Import (Ghana EXIM) noted in its report that since 1992, the government of Ghana considered the policy option of diversifying and promoting an export-led growth strategy in the nontraditional export (NTE) sector to widen the export base of the economy.

International trade has been a major driver of world economic growth and prosperity over the last hundred years and as trade expanded global incomes have grown. Economies that are open to international trade continue to harness the power of trade to boost competitive-ness and productivity and this has helped to improve living standards

and sustainable economic growth and development in this economies.

EXIM BANK: A MAJOR DRIVER TO THE ATTAINMENT OF GHANA BEYOND AID

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“The Bank is not subject to the regulatory and supervisory control of the Bank of Ghana or to the Banking Act, 2004 (Act 673) in its establishment or in the performance of its functions.”

The Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund, which had gone through several changes, was established to sup-port the diversification and en-hancement of the country’s export through adequate financing strat-egies because the sector has been bedevilled with lack of financing resulting in the low performance. The Export Trade, Agricultur-al and Industrial Development Fund Act 2013 (Act 872), which went through two amend-ments, was established to sup-port the development and promotion of Ghana’s export trade, agriculture and industry.

As part of government’s ex-port led economic growth agenda, the Ghana ExportIm-port Bank was established in 2016 to drive this agenda.

The Ghana Export-Import Bank Act, 2016 (Act 911) provided that the object of the Bank is to; they were required to do. The tradi-tional commercial banks have also not been very supportive of the NTE sector because of the high risks inherent in the sector. The Presidential Task Force con-firmed the need to establish The Ghana Export-Import Bank, which is expected to provide that strate-gic leadership for coordinating all the agencies as well as providing

the financing, insurance and guar-antees for the growth of the ex-port sector.

The Report further recommend-ed that the EDAIF, Export Finance Company Limited and Eximguran-ty Company Limited be merged into the Ghana EXIM Bank. The Ghana Export-Import Bank Act, 2016 (Act 911) provided that the object of the Bank is to:

• Support and develop directly or indirectly trade between Ghana and other countries,

• Build Ghana’s capacity and competiveness in the international market place.

Section 3 of the law provides for 26 functions that the Bank is mandated to carry out which covers export credit, export credit guarantees and insurance, equity and various forms of export credit facilities that export financing entails.

Section 4 provides for the independ-ence of the Bank and notes that: “The Bank is not subject to the regulatory and supervisory con-trol of the Bank of Ghana or to the Banking Act, 2004 (Act 673) in its establishment or in the performance of its functions.”

GEXIM Bank was expected to build a strong institution that will

consolidate the efforts of three in-stitutions - EDAIF, Export Finance Company and Eximguaranty

Company Ltd that merged to form the Ghana Export-Import Bank. Ghana EXIM Bank intends to take advantage of bilateral and multilateral initiatives such as the AGOA and the EU’s Eco-nomic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and other bilateral oppor-tunities to become a pillar in re-gional (ECOWAS) and continen-tal (AU) trade and investment. The Bank would introduce spe-cial finance facilities specifical-ly designed to provide financial support to companies that com-mit to taking advantage of these opportunities and the opportu-nities created by the One-Dis-trict-One-Factory and Planting for Food and Jobs Programs of the government.

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GHANA EXPORT-IMPORT BANK’S

ACTIVITIES OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS

The Ghana Export Import (GEXIM) Bank is strategically empowering the pri-

vate sector through various support programmes to help make businesses more competitive and capable of contributing to the realiza-tion of the “Ghana beyond Aid” agenda. As a development bank with focus on export-led financing, the bank has, since its establishment in 2016, supported investors and companies in selected areas of the economy with low cost funds to retool, im-prove operational efficiencies and produce exportable goods. The Bank’s strategic focus is aligned to the government’s 10-point agenda for industrial transformation. The bank’s strategy also focuses on developing specific sectors such as garment and apparel manufac-turing, raw material base develop-ment for avocado, cashew, oil palm and cassava. In choosing the enterprises to sup-port, the Ghana EXIM Bank consid-ered three key development driven benchmarks namely; employment creation, value addition through production efficiency and foreign exchange revenue generation po-tential.

tional exports (NTEs) from the current average of US$2.4 bil-lion to US$5 billion per annum, develop crops such as avocado and cashew into major export products, reduce the nation’s im-port bill for poultry by US$300 million per annum, to become a key finance partner for effective implementation of government initiatives such as the 1D1F, and to provide financial and advisory services to compliment the effort of exporters. These are aimed at making Ghana a strong pillar re-gionally and globally in selected industries such as pharmaceuti-cals and tree crop production.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS In an effort to build the capacity of its human resources, the Bank has had collaborative discussions with a number of institutions in-cluding the United States Agen-cy for International Development (USAID), EXIM Bank of India, Korea EXIM, Turkey EXIM, Afrex-imbank, US EXIM Bank, CDC of Canada and China EXIM Bank. Institutions such as Afrexim, US Exim, Credit Suisse, UKEF, Bern Union and SACE of Italy have also been approached for fi-nancial support to augment the Banks operating funds.

ONE-DISTRICT-ONE–FACTORY (1D1F)As the Export Credit Agency of the government, GEXIM Bank is the main financial driver behind the govern-ment’s flagship district industrializa-tion programme (DIP), the One-Dis-trict, One-Factory (1D1F) initiative which seeks to accelerate Ghana’s industrialization and socioeconom-ic development. The expectation is that these interventions will create job opportunities for the teeming unem-ployed youth and ensure prosperity for all Ghanaians. In furtherance of these objectives, the Bank has over the past eighteen months approved GH¢417 million to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under the initiative.

To ensure the success of the pro-jects, there is close collaboration between the 1D1F Secretariat and the Bank to ensure regional balance, project viability, availability of infra-structure and the institution of a good corporate governance struc-ture of each potential company prior to the approval and disburse-ment of funds.

FIVE-YEAR PLANThe Bank’s five-year strategic goals (2017-2022) is geared towards in-creasing earnings from non-tradi-

As a development bank with focus on export-led financing, ...........

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BENEFICIARY PROFILE EKUMFI FRUIT PROCESSING LIMITED

With the signature ‘One-District, One-Factory (1D1F), the initia-tive aims to achieve this through a massive private sector led na-tionwide industrialization drive, which will equip and empower communities to utilize their lo-cal resources in manufacturing products that are in high demand both locally and internationally. The government has initiated processes to ensure that finan-cial resources are secured for the commencement of construction of some factories under the pro-gramme in some of the districts. The Ghana Exim Bank (GEXIM) has been at the fore-front in fi-nancing the 1D1F programme.

Ekumfi Fruits and Juice Limited is the first beneficiary under the On-eDistrict, One-Factory initiative, and also the first to be supported by GEXIM. The first tranche of the facility has already been disbursed and utilized for the acquisition of some capital items which are need-ed for the first phase of the project.

The company will process pineap-ple and other tropical fruits into Non-ForConcentrate (NFC) juic-es and drinks for export and for the domestic market. The facto-ry which is under construction, on completion, will have the capacity to process and package an estimat-ed 150 metric tonnes of pineapple and other tropical fruits per day.

Reliance on outgrowers is a key feature of the project with 5,000 local farmers expected to cultivate at least one hec-tare each after five (5) years of production, translating to the cultivation of about 5,000 hec-tares. This is aimed at match-ing the capacity of the factory. With the factory expected to be completed in November 2018 and become fully oper-ational in December 2018, the project will create employment for an estimated 250 people in the first year of operation.

IMPACT OF PROJECT ON THE DISTRICT

The factory is sited at Ekumfi taking into cognizance the resource endownment of the district and the projected employment to be created by the facility. The project, indeed, has the potential of turning the fortunes of the district around by creating wealth and sustainable jobs.

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Successive govern-ments, post-inde-pendent Ghana, have considered

industrialization to be a key factor in the modernization and development of the country. Several attempts have been made under successive governments to revive the country’s indus-trialization agenda. Ruefully, however, these attempts, in the face of daunting challenges, have not been able to overturn the tide in favour of industrial and economic growth.

The current government, prior to its electoral success in 2016, and as part of its plans to industrialize and transform the Ghanaian economy, outlined its plans to facilitate in the establishment of a factory in each of the 216 districts across the country. These factories will be built relative to the district’s endowed resources and capacity to particularly provide jobs for the people.

An aerial view of outgrower farms for Ekumfi

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Asia%45

East Afrca%6

Brazil%4

West Afrca%45

Introduction Cashew is grown mainly in the trop-ical countries of the world. An esti-mated 90% the world’s production is split equally between West Africa and Asia. Brazil and East Africa pro-duce an estimated 4% and 6% re-spectively. The top three exporting countries of cashew nut are Vietnam, India and Indonesia whereas the top three cashew importing coun-tries are USA, India and Germany. Vietnam, Nigeria, India, Ivory Coast, Philippines and Tanzania are the top cashew producers in the world. In 2016, cashew nut de-mand increased by 6.1 %. Wheth-er the production volume growth can meet the increasing demand is uncertain. Compared to the 6.1% increment in demand, produc-tion volume increased only by 3%.

Ghana Exports its cashew mainly to Vietnam, India and China. Ghana’s export of the product is mainly in raw cashew nuts which brings lit-tle value to the Cashew in Ghana.

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GHANA AND THE CASHEW INDUSTRY

The Ghana Export Promotion Au-thority (GEPA) reports that, cashew has become the leading non-tra-ditional export earner in Ghana’s agriculture sub-sector, contrib-uting $196.7 million to non-tra-ditional export earnings in 2016. The sector, with an estimated production area of 89,000 hec-tares, had created about 40,000 jobs in the production and 1,800 jobs in processing, which would help attain the district level in-dustrialization drive and diver-sify exports for more revenue.

Cashew production in Ghana is anchored mainly on smallholder farmers who are normally organized into associations . The estimat-ed surface area suitable for producing the crop is 9 million hectares. The first major attempt by the government of Ghana to develop the cashew industry was made under the six year (2001-2007) Ghana Cashew Development Project (GCDP) funded by the African Devel-opment Fund to the tune of US$11.54 million.

Pictorial distribution of the regional distribution of world cashew production is shown in figure 1 below.

Prior to the project a study commissioned by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in 1998 concluded that Ghana had tremendous potential to increase the land area under cultivation and the production of cashew nuts and kernels for domestic and export markets. The study also indicated that cashew production had the potential of generating significant additional income for the rural population and hence contributes to poverty reduction. The successful implementation of the GCDP led to signifi-cant positive developments in the cashew industry. An end of project report published in 2010 indicated that total land area under cashew cultivation had increased significant-ly from 18,000 hectares in 2000 to 70,000 hectares in 2010. Raw Cashew Nut production also soared from about 5,000MT in 2002 to an estimated 29,000 MT in 2010. This culminat-ed in the significant growth in the export of raw cashew nut with its attendant positive impact on rural poverty reduc-tion in the five main regions where cashew is grown in Ghana. This notwithstanding one of the major problems confronting the cashew industry in Ghana is the near collapse of processing facilities as a result of takeover of the marketing of the raw nuts by foreigner merchants. Out of the total production, an estimated 82% (refer to table 1) is exported in its raw state to mainly Vietnam and India without any value addition . These foreign merchants buy the raw cashew nuts at the farm gate at relatively higher price and subsequently export them for processing outside the country. The stiff competition for raw material has led to the collapse of about nine to eleven3 cashew processing factories out of the existing fourteen in the country. 2 https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/Ghana_-_Cashew_Development_Project__Appraisal_Report.pdf 3 http://www.gbcghana.com/1.5168801, accessed April 17, 2017 & Technica

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A schedule of Ghana’s export of cashew by country as shown in table 1 below:

Import of Ghana’s Cashew by share

Export Destination Share (%) India 46Viet Nam 36China 7Singapore 4United Arab Emirates 3Brazil 2Netherlands 1United States 1

Total 100

To save the remaining processing facilities from collapse, there is the urgent need for policy intervention by government to halt activities of foreign merchants in the raw cashew nut trading business.

There is also the need for government to put in place mechanisms that will promote competitive pricing. In response, the government is in the process of reviewing draft legislation (Hon. Snr. Minister, 2018) that would demand that substantial proportion of all raw materials in Ghana should be processed before export.

On the part of GEXIM, attempts are being made to provide the necessary technical and financial support to boost production and productivity through the promotion of large scale production to feed local industries.

There are a number of key stakeholders that continue to make significant contribution to the development of the cashew industry in Ghana. The United States International Development Agency (USAID), the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) and the African Cashew Initiative (ACI) are some of these institutions.

Strategic Partnerships in Developing the Cashew Industry

These organizations have developed and are implementing strategies and programs that are addressing competitiveness constraints in the industry within the sub region including Ghana. Activities of these partners include investment promotion, market linkages, exchange of information among stakeholders and preparing farmers for niche markets, training on good agricultural practices, quality and food safety standards.

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Introduction The promotion of Ghana’s foreign trade has been central to all governments’ plans to revive the economy since 1983. Under the Economic Recovery Program (ERP), export-producing industries received the most direct support; they also received the most indirect support through improvement in their infrastructure base. Successive governments have sought to obtain foreign exchange essential to repay debts and to ease the country’s restriction on imports through the promotion of exports.

Overview of Ghana’s Trade since 2017

Since the beginning of the year 2017, Ghana’s economy has returned to a surplus balance with an exports-over-imports of $258 million equivalent to 0.6 percent of GDP. Trade surpluses, as quarterly data from the Bank of Ghana shows, have become a regular attribute of Ghana’s balance of trade, after years of consistent trade deficits. These high export receipts have been driven by increased production volumes and values in the country’s major trading commodities including gold, cocoa and crude oil combined with declining imports.

Can Ghana Sustain the Surplus? Ghana’s trade surplus, it is fair to conclude, is fleeting, and in the absence of a rigorous programme to reduce imports and particularly promote exports, the surplus can be reversed.

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GHANA’S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK:

FOCUS ON SUSTAINING GHANA’S TRADE SURPLUS

To sustain the surplus, there is the need to expand the manufacturing base and increase its ability to add value to its exportable products. The recent re-duction in electricity tariffs, while a huge incentive and relief to industry, should be combined with a re-duction in energy costs. The constant rise in energy costs does no good to manufacturing. Additionally, the country’s needs to take a close look at capacity, both in terms of production quantity and quality standards in the receiving countries. These have historically been major hindrances to its ability to export. Currently Ghana is unable to meet targets under America’s preferential trade arrangement with Africa (AGOA), and this calls into question how it can derive benefits from the proposed Economic Part-nership Agreement (EPA) and the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement that it has been quick to sign and ratify. Support should therefore be directed at these deficiencies.

Outlook for the year 2018According to the Standard Bank Research Desk, it is projected that trade surplus will narrow in 2018, but should remain in surplus, because of rising imports in reaction to a more accommodative stance taken by the central bank. Trade surplus shall also ensue from the continuous production in oil and the increase in portfolio inflows through the increase in Eurobond issuance.

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In order to benchmark GEXIM’s operations to meet International standards, the Board and management of GEXIM has been in contact with Export Credit Agencies operating in other jurisdictions such as Af-rican Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM), US EXIM, US-AID, EXIM Bank of India (EXIM India), to mention a few. GEXIM Bank entered into an Institutional Capacity Building Agreement with EXIM India in the last quar-ter of 2017 and during that period, a delegation from Exim India, led by its Deputy Managing Director Mr. Debasish Malick undertook a fact finding mission to Ghana. EXIM Bank India has been in existence since 1982 as a growth engine for industries and SMEs through a wide range of products and services.

It is envisaged that the partnership between GEXIM Bank and the EXIM India will provide opportunities for economic growth, capacity building and international cooperation between the two institutions. Commenting on collaboration, the Chief Executive of GEXIM Bank - Mr. Lawrence Agyinsam noted that “the partnership would go a long way to help government realize its vision of creating a Ghana beyond aid within the context of Trade and Investment”. It is expected that phase two of this project would commence in the next few months.

THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN GHANA EXIM BANK AND EXIM BANK OF INDIA

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The Chief Executive Officer of GEXIM attended the annual conference of the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi, as part of government’s delegation. The conference enabled both the leadership of India and Africa to take stock of their partnership whilst addressing concerns and meeting future needs. Executive Officer of GEXIM attended

GEXIM CEO ATTENDS INDIA INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

Mrs Sarah Braino-Arhin, Director of EDAIF Business led a delegation from EXIM Bank Ghana to the Afrexim Bank 24th AGM held in Kigali, Rwanda. Other members of the delega-tion included Mr. Daniel Nii Noi Ashong, Acting Head, Audit and Monitoring and Mrs. Baaba Ahorlu-Baidoo, Senior Officer Administration. The team reported that they learnt a lot about their products and procedures.

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EXIM Bank participates in AFREXIM BANK AGM in RWANDA

GEXIM TEAM accompanies VEEP to China

GEXIM Bank Board Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and the Deputy Chief Exec-utive Officer F&A accompanied the Vice-Presi-dent of Ghana on a business mission to China in June 2018.

The mission was at the invitation of the Chinese government. The Vice President and his entourage held bilateral talks with the Chinese Vice President, Li Yuanchao and the President of the China Exim Bank, Liange Liu among others. The visit was aimed at establishing collaborations between Ghana EXIM Bank and China EXIM Bank.

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STORIES

QUICK READ

15GEXIM NEWS LETTER

The Board of EXIM Bank inaugurated

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The Board was also charged to focus on the non-traditional export products including cassava, cashew and poultry which have the potential to facilitate the country’s export trade and enhance socio-economic development.

The Board is chaired by Kwadwo Boateng-Gen-fi and its members include the CEO of the Bank, institutional representations from the Ministries of Trade and Finance, Ghana Export Promotion Au-thority (GEPA), the Bank of Ghana and represent-atives from the private sector.

A nine (9) member Board of the Ghana Export-Import Bank (GEXIM) was constituted in August 2017 at the Ministry of Finance. The Board, pursuant to the promulgation of the GEXIM Act 911 (2016) was tasked with the responsibility of providing broad policy framework and guidelines for the effective and efficient management of the Bank. The GEXIM Bank has been established to support and de-velop directly or indirectly trade between Ghana and other countries and build Ghana’s capacity and competitiveness in the international market-place.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Kweku Kwarteng, speaking during the inauguration charged the Board to help Ghana become an export-led economy by extending both finan-cial and technical support to local producers to position them to be competitive in the international markets.

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Meeting with Interest Free beneficiaries. Underpinning every aspect of what GEXIM does is the total satisfaction of its clients. It is in view of this that Management, in January 2018, held discussions with beneficiaries of the Bank's Interest Free facility.

Ensuing from the meeting was the consen-sus to accept the proposed interest rate of 5% on the yet to be disbursed Interest Free facili-ty from the, hitherto, 0%. This, it is aimed, will cover administrative cost incurred by the Bank.

Management meet Stakeholders

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In March 2018, the Bank met members of the exporters’ association (SPEG) where the Bank’s resolve to increase foreign exchange earnings through the increase in pineapple production and export to the international market was reiterated.

The GEXIM Bank has positioned itself to support SMEs in the non-tradition export (NTE) sector to create more jobs. This was disclosed by the Chief Executive of the Bank in the Northern Region, where he led a team from the Bank to pay a working visit to some SMEs that had received funding.

This will culminate in improving the export earning position of the economy. Both entities agreed to deepen their collaboration to contribute to the growth of the agricultural sector by stimulating private sector participation.

The visit in June 2018 was to keep the Bank abreast with its sponsored projects and assess the viability of some SMEs that had presented proposals for funding. Among the projects visited by the CEO are a plastic recycling factory and two shea butter processing centres.

Meeting with Sea Freight Pineapple Exporters (SPEG)

EXIM Bank supports non-traditional export sector

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GEXIMBANK