The Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre (AATC) Harare’s office is expected to open in August, the pan African bank said on Thursday, as it moves to boost trade and investment in Africa, the Caribbean and the “wider African Diaspora”.
The Harare AATC will house Afreximbank’s 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.
It will facilitate the flow of trade information and provide trade services across the southern African Region.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Abuja AATC on Thursday, Afreximbank president and chairman of the board of directors Benedict Oramah said the pan African bank will “build a network of Afreximbank AATC that would offer strong physical institutional infrastructure to deepen [the] connections and exchange of information among Africans, the Caribbean and indeed the African Diaspora”.
“Today, we open the AATC in Abuja. In August, we expect to open the AATC in Harare. In 2026, we expect to open AATC Kampala. In a few months, we will lay the foundation for AATC Cairo, AATC Yaounde and others,” he said.
“Step-by-step, Afreximbank African Trade Centres would rise into the blue skies across Africa and in Barbados in the Caribbean, flying the banner that would embolden every African and restore the pride and dignity of our people.”
Oramah said the Abuja AATC is the “first of several AATCs being developed across Africa and the Caribbean”. He said some would be Afreximbank-owned, while others would be supported through a franchise scheme.
“With these, we expect to create a sizeable network of AATCs that will act as the lighthouses to guide the interconnections and flow of trade and investments within continental Africa and between Africa and the Caribbean region as well as the wider African Diaspora,” Oramah said.
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Two weeks ago, Afreximbank held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the construction of the AATC in Barbados, a historic first in the Caribbean region that “ we hope will serve as a launchpad for stronger trade and investment ties between Africa and the Caribbean”. The AATC in Barbados will be the first outside Africa.
“With that important step, we look forward to very soon hoisting the flags of Africa and the bank across the Atlantic, affirming a reunion with a valued, but long, neglected heritage,” Oramah said.
Oramah said the bank hopes that the “hand of partnership extended to us by the government of Switzerland will mean that we will soon have an AATC rise in Europe”.
