LAUNCH OF TF COP TASK FORCE, SEVILLE

Written by Tedd George, Kleos Advisory UK

On July 3^rd the TF COP Task Force was officially launched in Seville alongside the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4). Representing the largest coalition ever gathered in the trade finance space, the Trade Finance Conference of Parties (TF COP) held its inaugural gathering in October last year at the IFC headquarters in Washington DC. The resulting Washington Declaration laid out the ambitious objective to eliminate the global trade finance gap by 2040 and to secure the UN’s recognition of this gap as a critical barrier to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In order to implement this vision, the TF COP Task Force has been created, comprising 12 Development Financial Institutions, 5 Industry Bodies, and 13 Private Sector Members, who will work together to create, develop and execute new solutions to close the trade finance gap. The Task Force will be made up of several working groups, focusing on digitalisation, a First Loss Fund and capacity building, as well as regional groups, such as the African Regional Committee Working Group on SME Trade Finance. These will feed ideas into an ecosystem of sandboxes housed in the Task Force and run by its members, who will work together to develop and scale these solutions.

The Task Force’s work aligns with the Seville Commitment, issued at the FfD4 conference, under which all parties pledged to work together to close the world’s USD 4 trillion trade finance gap. This will involve an ambitious package of reforms and actions to catalyse sustainable investments at scale, with the mobilization of innovative, adequate, affordable, predictable and accessible financing from all sources, both public and private.

Posting about the launch on his LinkedIn account, the Task Force Chair, Duarte Pedreira, wrote:  “In 2023 I envisioned the creation of an industry-wide coalition to eliminate the trade finance gap. Why? Because it matters. Because it affects real people, who are not fulfilling their potential because they can’t fund their ventures. Ventures which, if properly supported, would contribute to generating employment and improving the lives of many others. I personally know many of these people, especially in Africa. So, it’s personal.”

The Task Force will hold several events during the second half of 2025, including a mini summit alongside the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington DC in October, and the second TF COP Conference (TF COP 2) which will take place at Crown Agents Bank’s London headquarters on November 21^st. 

If your institution or company is interested in becoming a member of the TF COP Task Force and contributing to its work, please contact the ITFA Secretariat at sec@itfa.org

Photos from TF COP Task Force launch in Seville (3 July 2025)