The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will inject between $50 million and $100 million to construct a landmark gold refinery in Egypt, with execution scheduled to begin by the end of 2026, Ayman Elzoghby, Head of Intra-African Trade Finance, Investment, and Corporate Finance at the bank, told Asharq.
This initial phase precedes a broader continental gold bank initiative, developed in cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) under a December 2025 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The refinery is projected to achieve commercial operations by 2027 or 2028, converting gold into globally tradable bullion.
Elzoghby revealed that global consultancy McKinsey & Company is conducting the feasibility framework for both the refinery and the pan-African gold bank. The specialized bank’s operational rollout timeline will be announced in the third quarter (Q3) of 2026. The integrated ecosystem, slated for construction inside a designated Egyptian free zone, aims to strengthen African central bank reserves and mitigate operational reliance on offshore refining hubs.
Beyond its medium-term bullion strategy, Afreximbank capitalized Egypt’s energy and infrastructure sectors during the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, injecting between $600 million and $700 million into the local electricity and petroleum industries. This financing facility targeted feedstock and petroleum product imports, infrastructure expansions, and the settlement of outstanding state dues to foreign investment partners.
Egypt represents Afreximbank’s largest shareholder, capturing at least 25% of the institution’s total loan portfolio. This strategic allocation covers heavy industry, pharmaceuticals, power generation, hydrocarbons, and contracting. The country’s outstanding credit facility reached approximately $9 billion at the end of April 2026, pushing aggregate historical financing extended to Egypt past the $40 billion threshold since the bank’s inception.
To catalyze regional growth, the bank is expanding financial guarantees to Egyptian engineering firms scaling up cross-border operations. Under this mechanism, an unnamed major local contractor is executing projects worth $1 billion across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman. Concurrently, state-owned Petroleum Projects and Technical Consultations Company PETROJET has entered a multi-partner venture alongside Italian and Nigerian firms to deliver a $1 billion hydrocarbons infrastructure project in Algeria.
