Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank and Mrs. Daniela Bonzanini, Chairperson of FCI
Cairo, 07 July 2022: – African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FCI (Global Association for Factoring and Receivables Finance) and the American University in Cairo (AUC) to deliver the Certificate of Trade Finance in Africa (COTFIA) programme.
The MoU was signed on 20 June 2022 in Washington DC, USA, on the sidelines of the 54th Annual Meeting of FCI, between Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank and Mrs. Daniela Bonzanini, Chairperson of FCI.
The COTFIA programme has been carefully designed to build the capacity of industry players, improving their understanding of the various aspects involved in African trade and international commerce, including import and export business, trade finance, supply chain finance, as well as factoring, invoice discounting and asset-based lending.
In addition, the programme provides insights on the new trends in trade finance while equipping participants with the skills required to support the continent in the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and understand its positive implication on improving intra-African trade.
The collaboration between Afreximbank, FCI and AUC to develop the COTFIA programme builds on the Certificate of International Trade Finance (COFIT) programme which has been delivered since 2016 to over 70 participants in partnership with the University of Malta with the financial support of Afreximbank.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Afreximbank President Professor Benedict Oramah declared that with the entry into force of the AfCFTA, it was important to give the programme a new lease of life.
“The successful implementation of the AfCFTA requires, among other things, that factoring be developed rapidly in Africa. With the entry into force of the AfCFTA, it was therefore important to first domesticate the programme to make it more accessible to African trade finance professionals. The fact that an African institution is hosting COTFIA programme is important in achieving this goal. Afreximbank thanks the AUC for its voluntary commitment and is delighted to have its expertise on board. We also thank FCI for its continued support and commitment to the development of factoring in Africa,” said Professor Oramah.
The COTFIA 2022 programme is delivered in a hybrid format with four online modules, two in person modules at the AUC campus in Cairo, Egypt, and a final online module asynchronously. The programme brochure is available here.
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About Afreximbank
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Afreximbank is working with the AU and the AfCFTA Secretariat to develop an Adjustment Facility to support countries in effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of 2021, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at about US$25 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$4 billion. Afreximbank disbursed more than US$51 billion between 2016 and 2021. The Bank has ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com.