Lagos – Africa can minimise effects of global shocks by taking advantage of strong African multilateral development finance institutions like the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
Dr. Patrick Njoroge, the Governor of Central Bank of Kenya, gave the advice on Friday in Nairobi during the final session of the 15th Afreximbank Structured Trade Finance Seminar.
A statement from Afreximbank made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday said that Njoroge was represented by Anne Muoki, Assistant Director in the Bank.
Njoroge said that the continent’s over-dependence on external financing sources had made it vulnerable to such shocks.
He said that since Afreximbank was a home-grown institution, it understood the unique requirements and needs of African businesses.
Njoroge said that if Africa was to achieve the desired growth, it should effect a change in the way it sought financing for trade activities.
He urged participants to share the knowledge they had acquired during the four-day seminar with their colleagues and counterparts in their home countries upon their return.
Also speaking, Dr. Hippolyte Fofack, Afreximbank’s Chief Economist, commended the Central Bank of Kenya for its support to the seminar.
He said that the training provided participants with the tools to effectively structure bankable trade finance transactions adapted to the specific context of African markets.
Dr. George Elombi, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Governance and Legal Services, said that the bank had identified structured trade finance as an important tool for financing African trade.
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He added that the bank was actively promoting factoring and “forfaiting” in order to meet the financing needs of Africa’s small and medium sized enterprises.
Some 120 participants from 24 countries across Africa received certificates for completing the training programme. (NAN)
