Afreximbank, ECIC launch $1 billion trade expansion programme

AFRICAN Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa SOC Limited (ECIC) Tuesday launched a $1 billion financing programme to promote and expand trade and investments between South Africa and the rest of Africa.

The South African-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme (SATIPP) was launched ìn Johannesburg, South Africa.

Under the terms of SATIPP, Afreximbank and ECIC will work together to identify, prepare and appraise trade transactions and projects; explore co-financing and risk-sharing opportunities; and share knowledge, with particular emphasis on intra-African trade matters, through technical cooperation, staff exchange, research and joint events.

Addressing businesspeople, media and stakeholders from the public and private sectors, who attended the signing ceremony, Dr Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said that the joint initiative would support businesses through capacity building and market information initiatives and would help small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to join regional supply chains.

It would also provide advisory services and guarantees to South African investors seeking trade and investment opportunities in Afreximbank African member countries, added Dr Oramah.

According to him, the initiative provides a platform for the realisation of Afreximbank’s strategic objectives in line with its strategy, IMPACT 2021: AFRICA TRANSFORMED, which prioritises intra-African trade, industrialisation and export manufacturing.

It also aligns with South Africa’s strategic goal of expanding trade with the rest of Africa.

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Also speaking, Kutoane Kutoane, CEO of ECIC, said, “We realise that one of the best ways to enhance our exporting capabilities as a country is by intensifying mutually beneficial trade with the rest of the continent.”

The ceremony also served as a platform to introduce and discuss the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) being organised by Afreximbank in Cairo, Egypt, from 11 to 17 December 2018.

The Fair is being held in collaboration with the African Union and hosted by the Government of Egypt represented by the Export Development Authority on behalf of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.