HAMASISHO DUNI KUHUSU BIMA YA SHA NDIO SABABU KUU YA WATU KUTOJISAJILI KWA WINGI KAUNTI YA MARSABIT.
December 3, 2024
Durban,
South Africa, 4 Nov. 2019: The 2019 Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar and Workshop opened in
Durban, South Africa, with Amr Kamel, Executive Vice President in charge of
Business Development and Corporate Banking at the African Export-Import Bank
(Afreximbank), saying that the Bank wanted to ensure that African banks and
bankers were well-equipped to deal with the risks in financing trade under a
difficult politico-economic environment and changing trade counterparties.
In his address at the opening ceremony, Mr.
Kamel said that the seminar and workshops, organised by Afreximbank in
collaboration with the South African province of Kwazulu-Natal, was part of the
Bank’s strategy to develop and strengthen trade finance capacity in Africa.
The training had been structured to ensure that
participants acquired the capacity to structure bankable trade finance deals of
varying levels of complexity, he stated.
“As Banks, we all play a critical role in
promoting trade,” said Mr. Kamel. “We must do this by managing the risks for
traders as well as by facilitating payments while bridging the cashflow gaps
that characterize international trade.”
He said that 2019 would go down as a watershed
in Africa’s history, being the year when the continent came together to affirm
its commitment to addressing its economic and social problems through the
launch of the operational phase of the African Free Trade Continental Agreement
(AfCFTA).
“This should provide traders across Africa with
preferential trading arrangements to enable them to enhance the level of
intra-African trade and enhance economic growth for our countries,” he said.
Also speaking, Sihle Zikalala, Premier of
KwaZulu-Natal Province, said that the province aimed to position itself as the
gateway to South Africa and the entire Southern African region.
It aspired to act increasingly as a transmission
belt between global and regional markets and production facilities, he
explained, adding that the government was working to develop a robust economy
that could sustainably create employment, fight poverty and become more
globally competitive.
Earlier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, Member of the
Kwazulu-Natal Executive Council responsible for Economic Development, Tourism
and Environmental Affairs, welcomed the seminar participants to Durban.
Also addressing the opening ceremony was Belinda
Scott, Deputy Mayor of Ethikwini.
The Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar and Workshop,
now in its 20th edition, is being attended by more than 200 participants,
including 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. The Seminar segment will
end on 6 November and will be followed by a factoring workshop on 7 November.