Afreximbank trains 1,500 African bankers on structured trade finance
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says it has trained more than 1,500 African bankers and trade finance practitioners in structured trade finance, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to improve economic conditions of the continent, the Bank says in a press release copied to ghanabusinessnews.com.
The release indicated that the President of the Bank, Dr. Benedict Oramah, speaking during the opening of the 15th Annual Structured Trade Finance Seminar which took place in Nairobi from November 10 to 13, said that the training covered both rudimentary and advanced knowledge of the subject.
“The primary goals of our Structured Trade Finance Seminars are to create and expand the knowledge of African bankers and other trade practitioners on issues relating to structuring trade and supply chain finance deals of varying levels of complexity,” Dr Oramah was quoted as saying that Afreximbank had been able to structure and deliver a significant number of deals, including in the most difficult markets, by using the structured trade finance approach.
According to the statement, the seminar was also create networking opportunities for participants in order to foster intra-African banking partnerships and enhance collaboration by financial institutions in financing African trade.
Sheila Mmbijjewe, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya was reported to have said that structured trade finance was critical to stabilising the African market and that the training provided by Afreximbank would make it possible to find tailor-made African solutions to African problems.
Ms. Mmbijjewe said that Africa’s current poor trade performance was linked to the financing gap that existed on the continent.
In a message to the seminar, the Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie, was reported to have said that access to affordable trade finance was a key constraint to trade development in Africa and noted that through the structured trade finance seminar, Afreximbank was meeting the immediate skills needed to structure trade transactions.
The Structured Trade Finance Seminar is organised by Afreximbank as part of initiatives to increase the trade and trade finance capacities of key players in Africa’s trade sector in line with the Bank’s mandate and mission to be “the Centre of Excellence in African Trade Matters”.
The Bank said more than 120 participants from 24 countries from across Africa, joined by others from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, India and the United Arab Emirates, participated in the seminar.
By Emmanuel Odonkor