Afreximbank gives certificate to over 200 at trade finance seminar

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) today in Durban, South Africa, awarded certificates in trade finance to more than 200 financial services professionals who participated in the 2019 Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar.

The seminar, which began on Monday, attracted attendance from all parts of the continent and was held as part of Afreximbank’s strategy to develop and strengthen trade finance capacity in Africa.

The seminar sought to provide participants with the capacity to structure bankable trade finance deals of varying levels of complexity and featured presentations and discussions covering the whole spectrum of the field of trade finance.

Topics covered by the expert speakers and presenters included fintech and digital innovation, supply chain finance, cross-border trade and sovereign debt.

Gainmore Zanamwe of Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Initiative discussed the opportunities offered by the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area while Sean Edwards, Head of Legal and Supply Chain Special Adviser, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe, examined the discontinuation of LIBOR and its impact on trade finance.

Vinay Chhabra of Afreximbank spoke about the merits of supply chain finance and Emeka Onyia, also of Afreximbank, discussed MANSA, the pan-African customer due diligence repository platform launched by the Bank in 2018.

Gwen Mwaba, Director of Trade Finance at Afreximbank, made a presentation on the techniques of structuring trade finance transactions while Hiren Singharay of Global Financial and Capital Limited, United Kingdom, discussed the impact of sovereign debt levels on trade finance.

Adeyemi Badejo of KPMG Nigeria spoke about the implications of IFRS9 for banks; Charles Corbett of Standard Chartered Bank, U.K., spoke about fintech innovation and digital transformation in the loan market; and Dr Robert Ochola, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Afreximbank, spoke about cross-border trade opportunities occasioned by the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System which is being introduced by Afreximbank.

The 2019 Seminar marked the 20^th anniversary of the annual seminar series. The participants included senior executives from African banks, financial institutions, regulatory institutions, hedge funds, Africa country funds, venture capital institutions, corporate entities engaged in trade, manufacturing and privatized infrastructure projects, Afreximbank’s trade finance and project finance intermediaries, African law firms and insurance firms.