Nairobi, 18 May, 2021 – The African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), is a pan-African multilateral insurer providing credit and political risk insurance to companies, investors and lenders doing business in Africa. It has pledged a more robust, reliable and transformational strategic approach to its business offerings, as it celebrates its 20-year anniversary. ATI’s products help to hedge political and commercial risks, giving comfort to investors while also aiding businesses in Africa to become more competitive.
Established by seven founding members and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the institution has established deep roots across Africa over the last 20 years. ATI has attracted significant partners and shareholders, including eighteen African sovereigns and twelve institutional shareholders and continues to grow exponentially.
The CEO, Manuel Moses, acknowledged the institution’s strengths but also cautioned against resting on one’s laurels. “Our vision is to transform Africa into a prime trade and investment destination, and we are doing well on this front. ATI is positioned to understand and assess the risks in Africa and to help mitigate them. As a result, we continue to offer robust risk solutions to our partners and clients, who increasingly rely on our support because of our credibility, financial strength and underwriting capacity,” he said.
Adding that, “To keep the momentum, we must pick lessons from the past but not bask much in the glory thereof. The bar we have set the past 20 years is the foundation for the next two decades. We plan to significantly increase our membership base to include all the 54 African countries as ATI’s shareholders, thus increasing our capital by over 300%. This will enable us truly fulfil our mandate of promoting trade and investment in the region. We are committed to continuous growth, improvement and innovation as it is the only way we shall remain relevant to our clients – in this ever-changing business terrain, adaptation is a must.”
Established in 2001 by COMESA, ATI set out to mitigate political risks in Africa in order to attract foreign direct investments. Credit insurance was added to its product menu in 2006 when member countries identified trade as another important pillar of growth.
Over the two decades, ATI has grown into a market leader for risk mitigation in Africa. ATI has been profitable over the last 9 years, recording a net profit of US$39.4 million in 2020, despite the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. The year on year growth is due to a strong demand for ATI’s insurance solutions from the regional and international financial sector and from African governments.
As ATI enters its third decade of operations, it continues to be the catalyst in trade and investments and the de facto business risk mitigation tool for Africa contributing to the implementation of the recently launched AfCFTA while at the same time supporting the recovery process of economies damaged the global Covid 19 pandemic.
