Afreximbank signs US$300mn deal to support Congolese crude oil production

(Global Trade Review, London, 4 October 2023) The African Export-Import Bank has agreed a US$300mn facility with Trident OGX Congo to bump up crude oil production in the Republic of the Congo. Other export credit agencies (ECAs) around the world have come under fire for continuing to finance the oil industry, most prominently the ECAs of western countries whose governments signed up to end international fossil fuel financing for new oil and gas projects. But some claim that global efforts to drastically scale back oil and gas production disadvantages African nations that have not yet reaped the economic benefits of fossil fuels, a tension borne out in the struggle over financing the East African crude oil pipeline. While western economies have had years to prepare for ESG requirements, Gwen Mwaba, director and global head of trade finance at Afreximbank, said that there was now “an expectation for Africa to fall in line immediately, when the reality is that we also need time to find our way on this journey. We should be given that space given how little we contribute to carbon emissions as a continent compared to the western world,” she said.