Photo: H.E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto, President of Kenya (front row, centre) and Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of Board of Directors of Afreximbank (4th right, front row) together with leaders of Sub-Sovereign governments from Kenya and other African countries during the 4th AfSNET conference, hosted in Kisumu City, Kenya / © Afreximbank
Sub-Sovereign government leaders from across Africa are in Kisumu, Kenya, for the fourth edition of the African Sub-Sovereign Governments Network (AfSNET) Conference. The three-day event will hold from 25-27 November under the theme ‘Leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for Sustainable Trade and Investment: A Development Pathway for African Sub-Sovereigns’.
The conference, with over 250 Sub-Sovereign government leaders in attendance, is sponsored by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in partnership with the County Government of Kisumu and the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa).
AfSNET was established by Afreximbank as a platform for promoting intra-African trade and investment, educational and cultural exchanges, and the fostering of effective engagement among sub-sovereigns in Africa’s development and prosperity in the context of the AfCFTA.
Its platform has given sub-Sovereign leaders and businesses the opportunity to discuss how their local governments can attract investments and inclusive growth in the region. The fourth edition’s main objectives include strengthening the role of Africa’s sub-Sovereign governments in driving intra-African trade and investment, and the successful implementation of the AfCFTA.
While delivering his keynote address, H. E. Dr. William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, acknowledged Afreximbank’s support for African governments, including Kenya. He acknowledged the presence of Professor Benedict Okey Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Afreximbank.
“I want to thank Professor Benedict Oramah for making time to join us for this conference. Your presence here is yet another example of the unique approaches that the Bank, under your leadership, employs in order to deepen its footprint by engaging with shareholders throughout the continent. Including sub-national entities like Africities, and devolved governments like Kisumu. Afreximbank has consistently demonstrated innovative approaches in advancing credit to African governments and the public sector while facilitating deeper collaboration among sub-Saharan nations, and Kenya is an example,” said President Ruto.
“This spirit of innovation aligns seamlessly with the aspirations of the African Continental Free Trade Area, creating a dynamic network of ambitious, future-ready institutions and governments. Such collaborations will drive transformative engagements at the grassroots level, enabling Africa to achieve an unparalleled position in the global value chains and make substantial contributions to their bottom-up transformation,” he added.
The sub-sovereign governments of Africa, which include states, counties, provinces, towns, and regional agencies, are essential to the continent’s economic growth. The African Union projects that Africa’s GDP would increase by 3.7% in 2024, which is marginally faster than the 3.2% global average.
This expansion highlights how crucial sub-sovereign governments are to the economies and citizens of Africa. Therefore, Afreximbank pledged USD $2 billion for these important players in order to assist African governments and companies on the continent.
Afreximbank is a stalwart supporter of AfCFTA and has deployed innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. The bank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure.
“AfSNET initiative thrives due to the concerted efforts and unwavering commitment of partners who recognise the tremendous potential of sub-sovereign governments as the engines for broad-based economic development that extends to the grassroots of our societies. At Afreximbank, we strongly believe that for developmental initiatives to succeed in our economies, they must, of necessity, be decentralized; development needs must originate and flow from the periphery towards the centre,” said Professor Oramah in his speech.
“In alignment with the AfCFTA, we are passionately implementing the AfSNET initiative to promote intra-regional trade and investment. We collectively recognize that cities, states, and provinces within a nation exhibit remarkable diversity—differing in population sizes, resource endowments, skill sets, and sectoral specializations,” he pointed out.
Professor Oramah also added that the conference is an important lead-up to the next Intra Africa Trade Fair (IATF2025), which will be held in Algiers, Algeria, from September 4–10, 2025. He encouraged delegates to be present and contribute to the conversation at the IATF2025.
Source: TheAfricanDream.net
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
