By Udeme Akpan, Energy Editor
The African Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank, has extended a €40 million revolving working capital facility to Cameroonian metallurgical group, Prometal SA, to support its steel manufacturing operations and expansionThe facility, signed on September 28 at Afreximbank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, will provide financing and guarantees for Prometal’s working capital needs and enable it to process semi-finished steel into finished products, including construction materials and agricultural equipment.The financing is expected to strengthen the company’s ability to meet demand from Cameroon’s construction, infrastructure, industrial and agricultural sectors.President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Dr George Elombi, said the facility was part of the bank’s efforts to deepen African manufacturing and retain more value within the continent.He said: “This facility is in step with Afreximbank’s commitment to accelerate industrialisation, ensuring that the continent realises maximum value from its natural resources.“By identifying and capacitating African industrial champions, like Prometal SA, the Bank is strengthening Africa’s domestic manufacturing capacity and creating domestic and regional value chains.”Chief Executive Officer of Prometal SA, Hayssam El Jammal, said the agreement marked a new phase in the company’s growth and its partnership with Afreximbank.He said: “Today, we are reaching a new milestone and entering a new stage in our growth through this strategic partnership with Afreximbank, which demonstrates the Bank’s continued commitment to turning African industrial ambitions into reality.”El Jammal said Prometal’s strategy combines expansion along the value chain with entry into new markets.“Our mixed-matrix strategy combines, on one hand, vertical integration across the value chain from the processing of raw materials to the production of finished goods, and, on the other hand, horizontal expansion into new markets with the clear ambition of producing in Africa goods that are still largely imported today,” he said.“In doing so, we aim to strengthen African production capacity, reduce dependence on imports and retain greater value within our economies.”Prometal Acier, the group’s core steel business, operates seven industrial plants with an aggregate annual production capacity of about 360,000 tonnes of finished steel products.The group also owns NOVIA Industries, established in 2018 to produce edible oil and soap, with capacity of about 500 tonnes per day of edible oil and 160 tonnes per day of soap.