News Release: Role Of Factoring In Competitiveness Of African Businesses Highlighted

The participants in the factoring promotion conference in Dar es Salaam

African businesses should capitalize on the advantages offered by factoring as an alternative trade finance instrument in order to trade more competitively, participants heard yesterday as a factoring promotion conference co-organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the International Factors Group (IFG) and Factors Chain International (FCI), opened in Dar es Salaam.

Kanayo Awani, Director of Afreximbank’s Trade Finance and Branches Department and Chairperson of FCI’s Africa Chapter, speaking through Teddy Ngidjol, a manager in her department, said that that thinking was behind Afreximbank’s continuing emphasis on the promotion of factoring.

She said that Afreximbank also saw the promotion of factoring as a way to support African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to become indirect exporters in supply chains

Ms. Awani said that the two-day conference, with the theme “Introduction for getting started in factoring”, was aimed at expanding awareness and strengthening factoring capabilities while offering participants the opportunity to discuss the current state of the industry as well as network with members of the global factoring bodies.

In addition to introducing African banks and non-bank financial institutions to the financial instrument and funding them through lines of credit dedicated to factors, Afreximbank was also building capacity and fostering the creation of facilitative infrastructure for factoring, Ms. Awani stated.

Earlier, in an opening address, Lila H. Mkila, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, said that factoring had the potential to place African exporters at near equal footing with other players in global markets.

In his own contribution, Peter Mulroy, Secretary General of FCI, highlighted the importance of factoring as a tool to finance SMEs, particularly at a time when global economic growth was slowing down.

The conference is featuring presentations by experts on the benefits and risks, mechanics and legal aspects of factoring and includes a session on the second day dedicated to case studies.

 Fleur Tchibota

Afreximbank External Communications