Afreximbank expanding support for region to $5 billion
4 Mar 2026
Funding tourism projects for The Bahamas
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) President Dr. George Elombi announced during the 50th regular meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, that the bank is raising its financing cap for the region to $5 billion to accelerate regional transformation, including funding tourism projects for The Bahamas and the development of trade and conference facilities, Afreximbank said in a statement yesterday.
The $2 billion increase for the region over the next three to four years builds on the than $750 million already disbursed across the Caribbean, as well as $2 billion in transactions that are currently under execution.
Elombi, who was a special guest of the conference, said the bank’s aim for the coming years was to significantly expand support to CARICOM nations.
“We will, therefore, increase the global limit to this region from the current US$3 billion to US$5 billion, with the hope of achieving full utilization over the next three to four years,” Elombi told Caribbean leaders.
The statement explained that Elombi’s vision for the next decade is “to change the structure of our economies”.
Strategic Financing to Accelerate Regional Economic Growth
He said the bank would invest in projects that add value to the economies, or improve agricultural outputs and natural resources, so that Caribbean countries can “retain significant value from these resources in our economies, generate wealth for our people, create jobs, and improve their livelihoods, with spillover impacts on government revenues and investments”.
Africa considers the Caribbean its sixth region, and Afreximbank has brought several Caribbean countries into its membership. Since the advent of this partnership with the Caribbean, Afreximbank has accelerated regional support.
The statement explains: “The president said that specific interventions by the bank would include developing healthcare facilities in Barbados, Guyana, and Grenada; supporting tourism projects in Barbados, Grenada, Bahamas, and Antigua and Barbuda; financing agro-processing projects and logistics facilities in Barbados, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis; and supporting infrastructure development, including power generation and distribution, road projects, conference facilities and trade centers in Grenada, Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Suriname.
“Others were providing financing support for banks in Suriname, St. Lucia, Grenada, and Dominica, including an SME-focused on-lending facility to development banks in the region; supporting local content promotion in natural resource rich countries to retain maximum value in the region, by empowering local entrepreneurs to participate actively in the sectors; working on a framework for the implementation of sea and air interconnectivity within the Caribbean, to boost movement of people, goods and investments; and promoting the cultural and creative industries through expansion of the Creative Africa Nexus Program to support financing, capacity building and trade of creative goods and services between Africa and the Caribbean.”
Afreximbank is funding the development of an Afro-Caribbean Marketplace and Logistics Center in Freeport, Grand Bahama.
Scaling South-South Cooperation for Sustainable Growth
Elombi also said Afreximbank will support a regional development strategy that will be aimed at doubling the size of the Caribbean’s economy within a decade.
The statement said that support will come by way of investments in infrastructure development, power generation and distribution, agricultural production, and production processing.
The statement said Elombi also affirmed Afreximbank’s commitment to the process of establishing the Caribbean Eximbank that could support investments “necessary to change the structure of our economies”.
He also praised the Committee of CARICOM Central Bank Governors who have decided to proceed with the Caribbean Payment and Settlement System CPASS, modeled on Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that Afreximbank pioneered in 2022.
According to Elombi, CPASS offers a real opportunity to deepen regional trade and integration by allowing low-cost, real-time cross border payments in local currencies.
St. Kitts and Nevis is set to host the fifth Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2026) in July this year, which brings together Global Africa, and features panel discussions, business matchmaking sessions, cultural showcases, and deal signings.
Last year, Bahamas Striping Group of Companies signed a loan agreement with Afreximbank at ACTIF for $100 million.