Session trainers and organisers at the training on the MANSA Repository Platform in Cairo
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI), has delivered the first in a series of trainings to Egyptian financial institutions aimed at enhancing their capacity in using the MANSA Repository Platform.
The MANSA Repository Platform, which was launched by Afreximbank in Abuja in July 2018, was established to be a trusted primary source of “know your customer/customer due diligence” (KYC/CDD) information for conducting due diligence checks on African entities, financial institutions, corporates and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Following the launch of the platform, Afreximbank and CBE agreed to facilitate its success by collaborating with EBI to provide education, training and related services to all Egyptian financial institutions and to their African counterparts and other entities involved in the platform. The sessions will train participants on the use of the platform and on its benefits to the institutions and to Africa.
The inaugural training, held in Cairo from 9 to 11 April, attracted 23 participants drawn from Egyptian banks, including Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt, United Bank, Banque du Caire and Export Development Bank of Egypt. Three trainers each joined from EBI and CBE.
Participants in the training on the MANSA Repository Platform in group photograph after the session in Cairo
MANSA, which is the first digital CDD platform of its kind in Africa, was conceived and developed by Afreximbank to address the negative perception of high cost of compliance in Africa, promote data quality and coverage in Africa and respond to the de-risking and withdrawal of correspondent banking relationships from the continent. It is also to address the implications of increased regulations of African entities and financial institutions, and improve access to due diligence information, thereby eliminating subjective evaluation of customers and mitigating against perceived risk of trading with African counterparties.
CBE has signed the Verifier Agreement of the Repository and, as current chair of the Association of African Central Banks, has partnered with Afreximbank to promote and deliver the platform among all African central banks, financial institutions and other entities.
Afreximbank provided the course instructors, training manuals and videos for the training session.
The MANSA Repository Platform is named after Mansa Moussa, emperor of the Malian empire from 1823 to 1825, who is credited with putting Africa on the world trade map.