Export-Import Bank of the U.S. Holds Meetings with Global Delegations During IMF-World Bank Week to Discuss EXIM Financing Opportunities
Washington, D.C.– The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis concluded two days of engagements and bilateral discussions with domestic and international delegations Thursday and Friday alongside the 2024 Annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group. Chair Lewis met with central bank governors, finance ministers, private lenders and other government ministers to identify potential sectors and transactions for EXIM support.
On Thursday, Chair Lewis met with Abdulmajid Mussa Nsekela, CEO and Managing Director of the Cooperative Rural Development Bank (CRDB) of Tanzania and discussed financing opportunities through EXIM’s China and Transformational Exports Program (CTEP). Together they identified projects to explore in the mining, renewables and digital infrastructure sectors. This meeting builds on a $500 million MOU with the government of Tanzania that highlights EXIM’s commitment and mandate to invest in sub-Saharan Africa.
Chair Lewis met with Nobumitsu Hayashi, the Governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), to discuss EXIM and JBIC’s long-term cooperation around OECD negotiations and critical minerals. Chair Lewis and the EXIM team also welcomed Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Serge Ekué, President of Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD), to EXIM. With Ekué, Chair Lewis highlighted EXIM’s activities in sub-Saharan Africa and discussed potential collaboration with BOAD in Côte D'Ivoire, Senegal, Benin and Togo.
Also on Thursday, Chair Lewis met with Princess Rasees AlSaud, Senior Director and Head of Financial Institutions and Investor Relations Department at the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), to conduct government-to-government commercial diplomacy and discuss PIF’s priorities and EXIM’s role in enabling their regional and portfolio diversification.
On Friday, Chair Lewis delivered a keynote address at an event hosted by The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center titled, “The Road to Investment, Peace, and Security in the DRC.” Chair Lewis discussed the Minerals Security Partnership, an initiative that brings together U.S. friends and allies to address one of the most critical challenges of our time: ensuring secure, diverse, and sustainable supply chains for critical energy minerals. Chair Lewis underscored the work of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment in the Lobito Corridor. Chair Lewis also noted EXIM’s Non-Binding Resolution for Critical Minerals and Rare Earths Financings, which reaffirms EXIM’s support for critical minerals transactions.
Throughout the day, Chair Lewis also met with senior officials from several international financial institutions, including the Development Bank of Kazakhstan and Poland’s state-owned bank, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. In a meeting with Mirosław Czekaj, CEO of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, Chair Lewis explored transactions of interest in energy security, Ukraine reconstruction, and transformational export areas. Later, Chair Lewis, Marat Yelibayev, Chairman of the Management Board Development Bank of Kazakhstan, and Amb. Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Kazakh Ambassador to the U.S., discussed several investment opportunities.
Finally, Chair Lewis met with Pasi Hellman, Finland’s Undersecretary of State for Development Policy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the ongoing collaboration between Finvera and EXIM, as well as 5G telecommunications network infrastructure and critical mineral supply chains.
ABOUT EXIM:
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the nation’s official export credit agency with the mission of supporting American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports. To advance American competitiveness and assist U.S. businesses as they compete for global sales, EXIM offers financing including export credit insurance, working capital guarantees, loan guarantees, and direct loans. As an independent federal agency, EXIM contributes to U.S. economic growth by supporting tens of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. Learn more at www.exim.gov.
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