The Afreximbank (African Export-Import Bank) will host the 25th edition of its flagship Trade Finance Seminar (ATFS2025) in Abidjan from 4 to 6 November.
This seminar is set to address Africa’s trade finance gap, estimated at US$100 billion annually, contributed by global financial headwinds. ATFS2025 will convene leading Africa and international trade finance specialists, banking professionals, corporates, and regulators.
The discussions will explore innovative financing structures designed to unlock new business opportunities, with a particular focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make up over 90% of the continent’s enterprises but remain underserved by traditional banks. A one-day Factoring Workshop will follow on 7 November.
Gwen Mwaba, Afreximbank’s Managing Director of Trade Finance and Correspondent Bank, “Structured trade finance is Africa’s ticket to turning unbankable deals into viable trade. This seminar equips financial leaders with the tools to unlock growth at scale, especially in challenging conditions.”
“As global regulations tighten and international lenders scale back, Africa must strengthen its own capacity to deploy structured trade finance. Hosting this training in Africa allows hundreds of African professionals to build critical expertise at a fraction of the cost of similar programmes in the main global financial centres such as London, Singapore, or New York,” she added.
The programme includes keynote addresses, interactive workshops, and high-level panel discussions. Marc Auboin from the World Trade Organisation will present on Unlocking Africa’s Trade Finance Potential: Expanding Supply while Reducing Cost, and Sylvia Marci from S&P Global Commodity Insights will discuss Africa’s emerging role in global energy finance.
There will also be a workshop on understanding Reserve-Based Lending by Dr. Lekan Aluko from Petrovision Energy Services and Peter Olowononi from Afreximbank. Other highlights include a workshop on syndications and agency covering Key Finance Documents and Africa’s Lending Landscape, and a session on Eliminating the Trade Finance Gap: The Role of Development Banks, The New Trade Finance World Order, and The Trade Finance Conference of Parties.
The full programme and registration details can be accessed through https://atfs2025.afreximbankevents.com
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