Absa CIB Joins Contour Trade Finance Network Absa CIB is positioning itself at the forefront of digital developments by being a part of Contour’s digital trade finance network. Many of Africa’s trade transactions are manual and paper-based, which slows down trade growth and creates another layer of complexity and costs. Absa CIB’s clients will now have access to Contour’s digital Letter of Credit (LC), which reduces the process of presenting documents from an average of 5-10 days to under 24 hours. Digital developments are a big part of addressing challenges and creating access to new markets. In Africa, digitisation is critical to the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a flagship project that aims to boost intraAfrica trade by 52.3 percent and expand the size of the continent’s economy to US$29 trillion by 2050. Read more: https://ngulminthanglhanghal.wordpress.com/2023/08/16/absa-cib-joins-contour-trade-finance-network/ #TradeFinanceNetwork #AfCFTA #LetterofCredit #CIB #Contour #NgulminthangLhanghal

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), billed as the biggest free trade accord in the world in terms of population, gathers 54 out of 55 African countries, with Eritrea the only holdout. https://nilechronicles.com/african-leaders-meet-to-push-for-free-trade-zone #NileChronicles #AfCFTA #AfricanUnion #AU #Eritrea

ICIEC Partners With Egypt, and AATB to Support Economic Development According to the latest news, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), and the Arab Republic of Egypt, addressed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and two other associates of the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program have come together, and encountered a Framework Agreement with an agenda of increasing economic coordination and boost sustainable development in all Arab and African nations. The above-mentioned two-year Framework Agreement will be initiating endeavors toward trade advancements, especially in areas with significant added value. Moreover, sectors that are dependent on a more talented labor force and sectors that promote further investments will get an additional shift as a result of this agreement. In this regard, last year, the African Development Bank Group’s collaboration with the WTO was an initiative towards bridging the trade finance gap due to Covid-19 pandemic. Egypt has been one of the most active Member States under the AATB since its acquisition in 2019 in a bid to further increase the flow of Egyptian exports in African markets, uplifting the total level of exports to $100 billion over the next five years. Additionally, the Framework Agreement will also uphold the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which is one of the biggest free trade areas on a global level. Read more: https://www.emeriobanque.com/news/iciec-partners-with-egypt-and-aatb-to-support-economic-development #ICIEC #tradeadvancements #AfCFTA #Egyptianeconomy #tradefinance #insurancefinancial #CPRI

Africa: Trade finance and the efforts to boost intra-African trade In brief Over the last ten years, Africa’s trade growth has been one of the worst among the major global regions, mostly due to falling commodity prices, competition, inadequate foreign exchange liquidity, regulatory challenges and access to trade finance. Although trade finance remains a popular activity among banks, the participation rates have decreased. Despite this persistently large trade finance gap, trade remains a key driver of Africa’s social and economic development. As a result, development finance institutions such as the African Development Bank and the African Export-Import Bank have sought to provide solutions to boost intra-Africa trade. In Depth ​As stated by the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi A. Adesina, "trade finance is an important instrument for influencing Africa's long-term economic development and structural transformation". According to a report by the AfDB and the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim), Trade Finance in Africa: Trends Over the Past Decade and Opportunities Ahead, the region was one of the most integrated with the rest of the world in 2011. However, in the last decade, Africa’s trade growth has been one of the worst among the major regions of the world. This is as a result of a number of factors including falling commodity prices, competition, inadequate foreign exchange liquidity, regulatory challenges and access to trade finance, as banks have gradually been scaling back activities from riskier markets. The study showed that although trade finance remains a popular activity among banks in Africa, the participation rates continue to decrease, falling by 16% between 2013 and 2019. As a result, the trade finance gap in Africa averaged USD 91 billion for the period between 2011 to 2019. Furthermore, the trade uncertainty in Africa was exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a twin supply-demand shock across the continent. Supply was affected by mass production shutdowns and supply chain blockages and demand for products from Africa decreased globally. Read more: https://ngulminthang.weebly.com/news/africa-trade-finance-and-the-efforts-to-boost-intra-african-trade Follow: https://ngulminthangl.tumblr.com/ #AfCFTA #tradefinancegap #AfricanDevelopmentBank #Tradefinance #NgulminthangLhanghal #Ngulminthang

Africa's Trade Finances And Efforts For Revival In 2011, Africa used to be one of the most integrated places globally in terms of trade finances. However, Africa's trade finances have been hit with growing problems, including the COVID-19 pandemic. What are the reasons for such a situation? And how are they being rectified? Let's take a look. According to various studies, Africa's trade finance participation rates have fallen drastically between 2013 to 2019 - by almost 16%. There are several reasons behind the fall of Africa's trade growth. It includes less access to finance, regulatory challenges, inadequate foreign exchange liquidity, competition, falling commodity prices, and more. The pandemic too wreaked havoc as it led to a twin demand-supply shock in the continent. Demand for products from the continent, supply chain blockages, and mass production shutdowns halted supply. But trade finance has always remained a key driver in Africa's economic and social development. So, banks like Afrexim and AfDB have been trying to revive the market by providing new and innovative solutions. Read more: https://www.emeriobanque.com/news/africa-trade-finances-and-efforts-for-revival #COVID19pandemic #Africatradefinances #AfCFTA #tradefinancemarket #supplychainblockages #tradefinance