ITFA ARC Educational webinar

The ITFA Africa Regional Committee (ARC) is collaborating with the African Development Bank (AFDB) and Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) in organising an educational seminar aimed at African trade finance professionals in West and Central Africa regions.

The purpose of this webinar is to foster a better understanding of global developments in trade finance and the implications for trade finance markets in Africa, the overwhelming trend of digitalisation in trade finance, and the challenges in dealing with compliance and financial crime regulations and rules. The ultimate goal is also to establish an educational platform for African banks in West and Central Africa regions active in the trade finance space and foster ITFA’s ARC collaboration with the AFDB and MFW4A.

The global trade finance landscape is evolving rapidly, driven by the overwhelming forces of technological innovations and tightened regulations. The complexity arising from this environment presents opportunities as well as challenges for financial institutions. Regarding trade finance in Africa, while the continent is far from homogenous, it exhibits notable characteristics and features that align with trends in global markets. However, trade finance challenges in West and Central Africa are acute compared to other subregions in the continent.

The third Trade Finance in Africa report by the AFDB/Afreximbank (2020) revealed that compared to other subregions the average default rate on trade finance applications were highest in Central and West Africa, at 8% and 7%, while the average approval rate were lowest at 75% and 79% respectively. In addition, Central Africa is the region with the highest rate of rejection of SME trade finance applications at almost half (47%). Furthermore, a recent study of Trade Finance in West Africa (2022) by the IFC and WTO surveyed financial institutions in the four largest economies (Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal) in the ECOWAS and found that trade finance supports only 25 percent of goods trade in these countries, far below the African average of 40 percent and the global average of 60–80 percent. Meanwhile, the trade finance gap is estimated around $14 billion annually for the four countries combined.

Please see the detailed agenda here together with the list of speakers.

Register

We do hope many of you will join us!