Access Bank, UBA sign agreement with AfCFTA to eliminate trade barriers

Access Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA) in Accra Ghana, signed an agreement with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to eliminate trade barriers.

The annual meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), also featured the signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MOUs) between Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) and leading African Group Banks to accelerate the implementation of PAPSS across the continent.

UBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a portfolio of $ 6 billion, in Accra Ghana, targeting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

According to UBA, the sectors to benefit from the unprecedented all-around support and trade facilitation are Pharmaceuticals, Automobiles, Transport and logistics, Agriculture and agro-processing.

Speaking with journalists immediately after the signing, Victor Etuokwu, deputy managing director, retail North, Access Bank said, “The agreement we signed today was the AfCFTA, you know, the continent is putting together a payment infrastructure to mobilise resources to drive inter-African trade.

He said together with that transaction is the PAPSS agreement, a cross-border financial infrastructure set up to facilitate payment across the continent.“

Etuokwu said Access Bank has traders, businesses, and SMEs in every country of the continent, trading with their counterparts in other parts of the continent and that PAPSS provides a platform where payment can be done without the need for the dollar as a currency that enables payment.

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Other agreements signed in Accra include an accession deed to the partnership agreement between Afreximbank and the Government of Barbados, MOU between Grand Bahama and Afreximbank, a MOU between the Government of Malawi (Ministry of Finance) and Afreximbank, a Collaboration Agreement between the Government of Malawi and Arise IIP, $400 million global facility term sheet between Arise IIP and the Bank, USD 1 million Ghana Railway Company Limited PPF Head of Terms and Ghana Railway Company Limited Mandate Letter, and US$2 million UTM Offshore Limited APPF Facility Agreement.

In April 2023, PAPSS and the African Stock Exchanges Association (ASEA) signed a MoU to enhance collaboration and cooperation in promoting cross-border payments of Capital Markets infrastructure in Africa.

Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, in his remarks, during the launch of PAPSS in January 2022 in Accra, said, “We are eager to build upon the African Continental Free Trade Area’s creation of a single market throughout Africa, and PAPSS provides the state-of-the-art financial market infrastructure connecting African markets to each other thereby enabling instant cross-border payments in respective local African currencies for cross-border trade. Afreximbank as the main Settlement Agent for PAPSS, provides settlement guarantees on the payment system and overdraft facilities to all settlement agents, in partnership with Africa’s participating Central Banks. PAPSS will effectively eliminate Africa’s financial borders, formalise and integrate Africa’s payment systems, and play a major role in facilitating and accelerating the huge AfCFTA-induced growth curve in intra-African trade.”