Afreximbank activates $10bn fund to shield Africa and the Caribbean from Iran war fallout

• Afreximbank deploys Gulf Crisis Response Programme (GCRP), warning of severe economic shocks from conflict that escalated on 28 February, with fuel, fertiliser and food imports in the crosshairs.

As the Middle East conflict enters its second month with no end in sight, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has taken the extraordinary step of approving a $10 billion emergency facility to insulate African and Caribbean economies from a crisis that is rapidly reshaping global trade, energy flows, and fiscal stability.

The Gulf Crisis Response Programme (GCRP), approved by the bank’s board of directors and launched on 31 March, is the largest single crisis-response facility in Afreximbank’s history, surpassing the $4bn Ukraine crisis adjustment programme launched in 2023.

It signals a growing recognition that the current conflict, which escalated dramatically on 28 February 2026, is not a temporary disruption but a structural shock requiring sustained intervention.

“This crisis response programme is in tune with our DNA,” said Dr George Elombi, President and Chairman of Afreximbank. “We understand how our economies work and the pain points associated with these transitory crises. The programme will support African countries in adjusting smoothly to the crisis while strengthening their resilience to future shocks through interventions that transform the structure of their economies.”

With oil prices up 50 per cent since late February, shipping costs soaring due to Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz disruptions, and fertiliser supplies tightening just as the March-to-May planting season gets under way, many African and Caribbean nations are facing a triple squeeze: higher import bills, depleted foreign exchange reserves, and mounting debt service costs.

Read also: How a war in Iran is rewriting Africa’s Gulf-reliant energy security rulebook

What Afreximbank’s $10bn will buy: Fuel, food, fertiliser and FX

The GCRP is not a single cheque but a multi-pronged financing instrument designed to address the most immediate pain points. First and foremost, it will provide short-term foreign exchange and liquidity to vulnerable member states to sustain essential imports such as fuel, LNG, food, fertiliser, and pharmaceuticals.

For countries such as Senegal, The Gambia, Cabo Verde, and Sudan, all flagged by the African Development Bank (AfDB) last week as having high debt service and large import bills, this could mean the difference between shelves stocked and shelves empty.

Second, the programme will help African energy and mineral exporters capitalise on elevated global prices. Through pre-export finance, working capital, and inventory financing, Afreximbank aims to help producers scale up productive capacity in strategic commodities.

That is a pragmatic recognition that while the crisis is a net negative for most of the continent, some countries, notably Nigeria, Angola, and Mozambique, can seize opportunities from higher prices and rerouted trade flows.

Third, the GCRP includes a specific relief window for tourism and aviation industries, which have been hammered by the conflict. Many Caribbean nations, as well as African tourism-dependent economies such as Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, and Mauritius, have seen forward bookings collapse as travellers avoid the region amid security fears and higher airfares.

Finally, the programme has a medium-to-long-term resilience component: accelerating critical energy, port, and logistics infrastructure projects that have been delayed by the conflict. That reflects a lesson learned from previous crises, that emergency response must be paired with structural investment, or vulnerability simply recurs.

A proven playbook: From Ukraine to the Gulf

Afreximbank is no stranger to crisis financing. The bank launched a $4 billion Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa (UKAFPA) in 2023 to help member states navigate the trade and economic fallout from Russia’s invasion.

Under that programme, the bank disbursed a total of $3.9 billion, helping countries bridge liquidity gaps and secure access to essential goods such as wheat and sunflower oil.

The Ukraine crisis exposed Africa’s acute dependence on Black Sea grain and Russian fertiliser. The current Gulf crisis exposes a different but equally dangerous dependency: on Middle East energy, LNG, and fertiliser feedstocks, as well as on the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 90 percent of Persian Gulf oil exports pass.

“These historical interventions underscore Afreximbank’s ability to deploy robust and innovative risk-mitigation frameworks to help its member states navigate global volatility, with a successful track record,” the bank said in its statement.

The GCRP builds directly on that playbook. But the scale is larger, $10 billion versus $4 billion, reflecting both the severity of the current shock and the bank’s growing financial capacity.

Coordination with UNECA, AU, AfCFTA and CARICOM

Notably, Afreximbank is not going it alone. The bank will spearhead a coordinated regional response in partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.

That partnership structure serves two purposes. Operationally, it helps channel financing to where it is most needed, avoiding duplication and ensuring that liquidity reaches real-economy actors, importers, farmers, and logistics firms quickly. Strategically, it aims to strengthen regional coordination on energy security, trade resilience, and supply chain diversification.

For the Caribbean, inclusion in the GCRP is particularly significant. Many CARICOM nations, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana are heavily dependent on fuel imports and remittances from the Gulf region.

They also face elevated shipping costs as vessels reroute away from the Red Sea. Afreximbank’s decision to extend the programme beyond Africa reflects the bank’s growing pan-southern role and its recognition that small island developing states are among the most vulnerable to global shipping and energy shocks.

The limits of a $10 billion shield

For all its ambition, the GCRP is not a panacea. $10 billion, while substantial, must be spread across 54 African nations and 15 CARICOM members. The Ukraine programme disbursed $3.9 billionn over two years; $10 billion for a crisis that could last well beyond 2026 will require careful prioritisation.

Moreover, financing alone cannot solve structural vulnerabilities. If African countries use the liquidity to simply import more fuel and food without expanding domestic refining, storage, or agricultural productivity, they will remain exposed to the next Gulf shock. Afreximbank’s emphasis on “transforming the structure of their economies” is the right long-term goal, but transformation takes years, and the planting season starts next week.

Dr Elombi acknowledged as much in his remarks, calling the programme a bridge to “adjust smoothly to the crisis while strengthening resilience.” The question is whether the bridge is long enough, and whether member states will use the time to build their own foundations rather than simply crossing back to the same fragile ground.

For now, African and Caribbean finance ministers will welcome the lifeline. The GCRP is proof that the continent’s own institutions, not just the IMF or World Bank, can move quickly and at scale when crisis strikes. Whether it proves sufficient depends on how long the guns in the Gulf keep firing.

Read also: Middle East war breaks through Kenya’s economic shield as private sector shrinks

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