The African Export-Import Bank has launched a US$10 billion emergency support programme aimed at helping African and Caribbean economies weather the deepening economic shock from the conflict in the Middle East, as higher energy costs, supply disruptions and financial market volatility threaten growth across developing countries.
Afreximbank said Tuesday its board had approved the Gulf Crisis Response Programme, or GCRP, to provide rapid financing to governments, banks and companies struggling with the fallout from the crisis, which has already rattled global oil and gas markets and pushed up fears over inflation and trade disruptions.
The Cairo-based lender said the package was intended to cushion member states from severe external shocks by ensuring continued access to critical imports such as fuel, liquefied natural gas, food, fertiliser and pharmaceuticals. It said the programme would provide short-term foreign exchange and liquidity support, particularly for vulnerable countries facing pressure on reserves and rising import bills.
The announcement comes as the economic consequences of the Middle East war spread well beyond the region. A near-total disruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global artery for oil and gas shipments, has driven up energy prices and intensified concerns about shortages, especially in import-dependent economies across Africa. The head of the International Energy Agency warned Tuesday that the current oil and gas crisis was more serious than the shocks of 1973, 1979 and 2022 combined.
For many African countries, the timing is difficult. A number of economies are still recovering from recent inflation surges, debt stress and currency weakness, while borrowing costs remain high and investor appetite for frontier markets uneven. Any sustained increase in oil, shipping and food prices is likely to worsen trade balances, deepen foreign exchange shortages and place fresh strain on public finances.
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Afreximbank said the programme was not only intended to provide emergency support, but also to help countries and businesses adapt to new trade dynamics created by the conflict. The bank said African exporters of energy and minerals could benefit from elevated prices and rerouted trade flows if they were able to increase output and expand productive capacity in strategic commodities.
That suggests the lender is seeking to position the continent not simply as a casualty of the crisis, but as a region that could capture some upside from shifts in global supply chains — if financing can be deployed quickly enough to support production, logistics and trade.
The programme will also extend support to countries whose tourism and aviation sectors have been hit by the fallout from the conflict. Those industries remain major employers and foreign exchange earners for several African and Caribbean economies, particularly small island and service-based states.
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In addition to short-term financing, Afreximbank said the facility would help accelerate delayed infrastructure projects considered essential to improving resilience against future shocks. These include investments in energy systems, ports and logistics networks, sectors seen as critical to reducing trade bottlenecks and strengthening supply security.
The move also reflects Afreximbank’s growing role as a first responder during periods of global economic stress. Established in 1993 to finance and promote African trade, the bank has in recent years expanded its operations and strategic engagement into the Caribbean, deepening ties with CARICOM states and widening its development financing footprint. Last month, it raised its financing cap for the Caribbean Community to US$5 billion, signalling its intention to strengthen economic links between Africa and the region.
The new intervention underscores the increasingly central role regional development finance institutions are being forced to play as poorer economies confront external shocks with limited fiscal room and constrained access to affordable international capital.
