ATI’s Membership & Partnership Development
In February 2023, ATI welcomed its twenty-first and first Lusophone African Member State, the Republic of Angola, with a capital subscription of USD25M. With this significant achievement, ATI now has 21 African Member States, one Non-African Member State, and 11 Institutional Members.
ATI anticipates that other Portuguese speaking African countries (PALOP) such as Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe will be encouraged to join ATI through financing by the African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) Lusophone compact development programe for PALOP countries. ATI is in continuous discussions with these countries identified as eligible for AfDB Financial Support to help them become ATI members.
The Republic of Mali is currently at the tail end of completing its ATI membership. In March 2023, ATI received an initial disbursement of USD9.7M towards the capital contribution of the Republic of Mali for its membership in ATI, thanks to the financial support from AfDB. The Government of Mali has committed to fund the outstanding amount equivalent to 14 shares to enable it to become a fully-fledged ATI member state in line with the minimum shareholding requirement of 75 shares for Class “A” shareholders.
Strategic Partnership Development and Cooperation with Partner Institutions
In response to ATI’s growing institutional needs, an effort is being made to strengthen institutional cooperation and strategic partnerships in order to increase ATI’s visibility and footprint across Africa. In November 2022, the Government of Rwanda successfully hosted the 2022 Berne Union (BU) Annual Meeting, which was co-organized by ATI and the Berne Union Secretariat.
With the participation of over 84 financial institutions, ATI hosted the world’s largest body of global export credit and investment insurance industry in Kigali under the theme – Africa’s potential for greater intra-regional trade and integration into international value chains; the transition of Africa’s energy sector; and the role of international finance and investment in the context of debt sustainability. BU members elected new officials for the next two years, including the President – Maëlia Dufour of BPI France and Vice President – Benjamin Mugisha of ATI.
ATI also participated in a joint event sponsored by the Government of Niger, AGF, ATI, BADEA, FAGACE and FSA. The event took place in Niamey, Niger from the 21 – 22 November 2022. The objective for the initiative was for ATI and its partners to come up with clear and robust policy actions and measures for de-risking Africa’s MSMEs to spur the implementation of AfCFTA.
Way Forward
In line with ATI’s new Corporate strategy goal of making the organisation Transformational, Robust and Reliable, ATI plans to attain greater visibility within the African continent through renewed engagements with prospective member states and to further strengthen ties with funding partners who have been instrumental in funding both new and existing member states through grants and concessional loans.
These strategic partnerships will help ATI increase its business access and geographical footprint in the African continent and beyond. ATI also intends to continue participating in high level Meetings and Annual General Assemblies of key development partners with the aim of strengthening our institutional ties, business development, visibility and outreach for development partners across Africa.
Hellen Ooko & Kenneth Tanyi
Membership Department
