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"Export Finance Evolution: New Ways of Channelling Trade Liquidity into Africa” and "‘Be the Change you Want to See’: The Solution to African Trade’s Risk Problem"
When: March 7, 2024
Location: GTR Africa 2024 – Cape Town
People: Simon Cook and Mark Norris

Mark Norris and Simon Cook will participate in separate panel discussions titled respectively "Export Finance Evolution: New Ways of Channelling Trade Liquidity into Africa” and "‘Be the Change you Want to See’: The Solution to African Trade’s Risk Problem" at GTR Africa – 2024 in Cape Town on March 7.

With critical mineral procurement and food and energy security driving the geoeconomic agendas of governments around the globe and Export Credit Agency mandates increasingly reflecting the strategic importance of supply chains, the deployment of new ECA-backed financing tools is driving a convergence between the export finance market and commodity / trade debt. Mark Norris joins the panel to offer perspectives on the direction of travel for product developments across the export and agency financing market, assessing the opportunities offered by the growth of untied and non-contract specific ECA support to both public and private sectors across Africa, as well as the banking and private insurance players participating in African deals.

Simon Cook, as a member of ITFA’s Africa Regional Committee, will moderate a panel later in the day discussing the causes of, and possible solutions to, the trade finance gap. With a debt crisis unfolding in developing African economies, DFI support is critical in neutralising poor credit risk to enable the local African banking sector to increase SME trade finance. Exclusive insight will be provided on the first utilisation of a ground-breaking deal structure leveraging DFI wraps to enable the release of local bank capital and its redeployment into African trade finance, potentially offering a truly sustainable and scalable solution to Africa’s trade risk problem.

Further details are accessible here.