The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced plans to partner with the Ogun State Government to finance a fabric processing zone as part of its drive to boost value addition and industrialisation across Africa.

The newly sworn-in President of Afreximbank, George Elombi, made this known during his inauguration ceremony, where he pledged to end the export of raw commodities and minerals from Africa without value addition.

Elombi said the bank’s focus under his leadership would shift from the export of raw materials to domestic processing and manufacturing, a move he described as crucial to achieving economic transformation on the continent.

“No more Nigerian bauxite, or Gabonese manganese, or Cameroonian bauxite, or South African bauxite, raw. We are not interested. We will focus on domestic processing. This has numerous benefits,” Elombi stated.

He reaffirmed Afreximbank’s commitment to the Ogun fabric processing zone, noting that partnership frameworks are already in place to support the initiative.

According to Elombi, Afreximbank will create a new high-impact financing window dedicated to projects that convert raw minerals into semi-finished or finished goods.

“We will establish a strategic minerals development programme that will process and finance entire value chains — from extraction and refining to manufacturing finished components,” he said.

Elombi observed that less than 20 percent of current investments on the continent go into mineral extraction, while over 80 percent is channelled into supporting infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, and power stations.

He identified poor infrastructure as a major obstacle to intra-African trade and disclosed that the bank is working with countries that generate excess power to extend transmission lines to those with shortages.

“We will accelerate investments in critical trade-enabling infrastructure projects that directly connect African markets to one another,” he said.

He added that Afreximbank will prioritise investments in modernising seaports, constructing highways and rail lines, and developing specialised logistics hubs, warehousing facilities, and pipelines.

Elombi stressed that priority will be given to infrastructure that links production centres with markets to unlock trade potential and reduce the cost of doing business across Africa.