African
development finance institutions must come together in partnership in order to
more effectively tackle the challenges affecting the financing of intra-African
trade, participants at the first ever continental conference on intra-African
trade finance and payment systems have urged.
In discussions during the closing
session of the two day the Intra-African Trade Finance and Payment Systems
Conference held in Abidjan, the participants said that, as multilateral
institutions in which African governments were key stakeholders, the
institutions had the moral standing and capacity to gavlanise policy actions
from the governments to make it possible to implement measures to address the
major issues affecting intra-African trade finance.
The institutions did not face the
same constraints which commercial banks and other similar entities confronted
in trying to address issues of cross-border trade, they stated, adding that,
with its trade finance mandate, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)
was best positioned to champion that partnership.
The participants highlighted the
important role of intra-African trade as a catalyst for economic growth in
Africa and said that finding solutions to the issue of trade finance was
critical to achieving that growth.
Recognizing
the challenge posed by settlements in the financing of trade among African
countries, they recommended that Afreximbank should create a clearing house
through which payments for intra-African trade would be carried out. According
to them, the use of such a continent-wide clearing house would lead to
significant reduction in the foreign exchange cost of such trade.
Another
recommendation was for African central banks to be challenged to take a more
continental outlook in making some of their policies, rather than continuing to
operate in silos, as that would make them more amenable to adopting policies
that do not create bottlenecks in the financing of cross-border trade.
In addition, it was recommended that
Afreximbank should pioneer the creation of a network of African correspondent
banks to make it easier for African traders to trade across borders.
In his closing remarks, Afreximbank
President Dr. Benedict Oramah said that the conference had been convened to
support the Bank’s objective of promoting intra-African trade as a strategic
measure to address the continent’s dependence on commodities and curb its
reliance on external markets.
The
conference, organized by Afreximbank, was declared open by Ivorian Prime
Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, who was represented by Adama Kone, the Minister
of Economy and Finance, and had featured the unveiling of a plaque to launch
Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Strategy.
It
served as a platform for industry participants to exchange information on
intra-African trade finance and payment systems and to identify solutions to
the financing challenges confronting intra-African trade. Participants
included chief executives and senior representatives of banks, law firms, think
tanks, export credit agencies, logistics companies, regional economic
communities, the African Union, central banks, other financial institutions
involved in trade, and trading companies engaged in intra-African trade.
Obi
Emekekwue
Afreximbank
External Communications
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