The African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) annual Seminar/Workshop on the Fundamentals of Structured Trade Finance opened in Lusaka with participants observing a moment of silence in honour of Michael Sata, the late President of Zambia.
Describing the death of Mr. Sata as sad and shocking, Afreximbank President Jean-Louis Ekra said that Mr. Sata was “an illustrious son of Africa who devoted most of his life to the service of Zambia” and expressed the condolence of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of Afreximbank to the government and people of Zambia on his death.
Mr. Ekra, who was speaking during the opening ceremony, announced that Afreximbank was working to introduce a mobile payment platform to support intra-African trade and payments. According to him, the successful introduction of the initiative will bring over $50 billion of informal regional trade, which currently takes place on the continent, into the formal sector, with attendant benefits to governments, businesses and trade financiers.
He announced that Afreximbank was working with Econet Wireless Group to develop and introduce the platform.
Declaring open the seminar/workshop, Dr. Michael Gondwe, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, said that as Africa strove to position itself as an economic powerhouse in the years to come, it must invest in appropriate technical knowledge and skills to support its current economic growth renaissance and further enhance development prospects.
Dr. Henriquie de Azevedo, Head of Export Credit Division, Business in Africa of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), called for strengthened financial and business connections between Africa and Brazil, noting that Brazil accounted for the largest concentration of people of African descent outside Africa.
The aim of the seminar/workshop is to equip African banks and bankers to deal with risks in financing trade and supply chain under difficult politico-economic environments and changing trade counterparties.
Speakers on the opening day included Lamon Rutten, Programme Manager at the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), Netherlands; Dr. Benedict Oramah, Executive Vice President of Afreximbank; Andrew Barr-Sim of Drum Commodities Limited, U.K.; and Simon Cook, Partner at the law firm of Sullivan and Worcester, U.K., who covered various aspects of trade finance structuring.
The seminar/workshop participants consist of senior executives from African banks and financial institutions, hedge funds, Africa country funds and venture capital institutions, corporate entities engaged in trade, manufacturing and privatized infrastructure projects, Afreximbank’s trade finance and project finance intermediaries and African law firms.
In addition to a two-day four-session seminar segment on 04 and 05 November, the event, which is being organized in cooperation with the Bank of Zambia, also includes a one-day workshop on trade and supply chain finance on 06 November.
Afreximbank President Jean-Louis Ekra (right) and Dr. Michael Gondwe, Governor of the Bank of Zambia addressing a press conference following the opening of the Afreximbank Structured Trade Finance Seminar/Workshop in Lusaka.
Participants in the Afreximbank Structured Trade Finance Seminar/Workshop in group photo.