The African Export-Import Bank announced on Tuesday that it has authorized a $10 billion Gulf Crisis Response Programme to assist the economies of Africa and the Caribbean, along with their banks and businesses, in mitigating the severe economic shocks caused by the Middle East crisis.
The support programme is intended to support fragile member states with short-term foreign exchange (FX) and liquidity to sustain important imports, such as gasoline, LNG, food, fertilizer, and pharmaceuticals.
By increasing productive capacity in strategic commodities, it also seeks to assist African exporters of minerals and energy in taking advantage of higher pricing and redirected trade flows.
It will offer temporary respite to member states in Africa and the Caribbean whose tourist and aviation sectors have suffered.
By expediting the completion of vital energy, port, and logistics infrastructure projects in African and Caribbean member nations that have been delayed by the conflict, the strategy also aims to increase the medium- to long-term resilience of economies against future shocks.
