Afreximbank’s trade centre takes shape in Zim

BUSINESS REPORTER

The construction of the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre (AATC) in Harare is taking shape with a ground ceremony scheduled today, three years after the Cairo-headquartered bank selected Zimbabwe as one of its hubs.

In 2019, Afreximbank selected Zimbabwe and Nigeria to host the first Africa Trade Centres.

Last year, Zimbabwe donated the land to Afreximbank for the construction of regional offices and the trade centre.

The Harare AATC will house the trade finance bank’s permanent regional office, a world-class hotel, a trade information centre, a major conference centre and a tech incubation lab. The centre is also set to accommodate other regional, continental, and global financial and development institutions. AATC will facilitate the flow of trade information and provide trade services across the Southern African Region.

Once operational, the AATC will help make Harare an intra-African trade hub and support the city’s rejuvenation as an important centre for financial services.

Today’s ground breaking ceremony will be attended by officials from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Local Government and Finance and representatives from Afreximbank and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Afreximbank has been one of Zimbabwe’s all-weather banks, supporting the country with lines of credit.