The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will provide a $1.5 billion loan to Egypt to fund investments including oil and petrochemical projects, Reuters reported.

The decision is part of Afreximbank’s plan to loan $10 billion to finance development projects in a number of African countries, bank CEO Benedict Orama told Reuters.

Orama added that Afreximbank also intends to boost inter-Africa trade from around $175 million in 2017 to $250 million in 2021.

“The bank has carried out studies on inter-Africa trade, and we have found that it does not exceed 15%… at the same time trade with North America, Asia, and Europe exceeded 80%,” Orama stated.

Orama’s comments came during a press conference attended by Egyptian trade minister Tarek Qabil to launch the first Intra-African Trade Fair. The fair will feature 1,000 firms from 65 African nations, and will take place in Egypt in December 2018.

Since the bank began operations in 1994, it has given more than $60 billion in loans and credit facilities to African governments and companies.

The Cairo-based bank was established by African governments, African private and institutional investors along with non-African financial institutions and private investors to finance, promote and expand intra-African and extra-African trade. It has branches offices in Harare, Abuja, Abidjan and Nairobi.