The African Export–Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) aims to increase its capital by $300-400m in 2017. The bank's director of banking operations, Heba Aboul Ezz, noted that the bank's capital was at $12bn in December 2016. She said that Egypt is a key partner in the bank, along with Egyptian banks, including the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and Banque du Caire. Aboul Ezz added that the credit portfolio granted to Egyptian authorities directly and indirectly in 2016 reached $4.2bn. She pointed out that the bank is working to boost the effectiveness of the trade infrastructure between African countries. She said that the bank is considering financing four investment projects in Egypt and Africa in the fields of real estate, industry, and clean energy, noting that one of the projects is estimated to cost $500m, while the other three are at around $233m each. Moreover, Aboul Ezz noted that the bank is studying financing requests worth $500m from banks in Egypt. The chairperson of the bank, Benedict Okey Oramah, said that the bank's profits in 2016 were expected to amount to $40m. He noted that the bank intends to establish a regional headquarters in east Africa this year, as it prepared to launch a new strategy in December—spanning until 2021—to support exports.
