Afreximbank’s new African Trade Center is the physical anchor for a big Egypt-bound financing push. The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) sent a signal of confidence in Egypt, after tapping our friends at Hassan Allam Construction to build its USD 250 mn African Trade Center (AATC) in the New Capital. It will be the bank’s largest global complex to date and will house its new global headquarters, replacing the bank’s current HQ in Heliopolis.

The project site — spanning over 100k sqm — will feature a 110-room hotel and six fully serviced residential villas. It will also be home to an exhibition center and a 750-seater conference center, among other facilities.

Our take

Not (just) a real estate project: Afreximbank’s new headquarters contract, complete with large conference and exhibition facilities, confirms the bank sees Egypt as the de facto financial center for intra-African trade.

Why it matters

Afreximbank plans to earmark USD 2 bn in financing to Egypt this year, according to Afreximbank’s Ayman El Zoghbi’s recently said. The bank has particular interest in propping up investments in energy, telecommunications, construction, and manufacturing, Afreximbank Chairman George Elombi said.

We heard back in 2024 that the bank was mulling plans to more than double its Egypt-bound financing, plugging an additional USD 3.2 bn into the country last year.

What’s next?

The project is scheduled to be completed in early 2029 and should generate some 8k direct and indirect jobs during construction, as well as some 1k jobs during its operational phase.

Background

A ‘W’ for local traders: Afreximbank has had significant appetite for local infrastructure projects that boost national trade capacity. Most recently, Afreximbank approved a USD 150 mn loan for Canal Sugar in September. The loan for the subsidiary of the UAE’s Jamal Al Ghurair Group is being used to finance the purchase of new production lines for the company’s sugar factory in Minya and to increase the company’s beet productivity to 36k tons per day by next year, up from 11k tons today.

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