NAIROBI & DAR ES SALAAM, 4 July 2013 – ATI, African Trade Insurance Agency, and SACE, Italian export credit agency and credit insurer, announced today the successful finalization of $79 million new transactions to support trade & investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is one of the key results stemming from their risk-sharing partnership, initiated in 2009, when SACE completed a $10 million investment in ATI. This was further enhanced in 2010 when SACE was elected to the Board of the organisation.
The announcement was made on the occasion of SACE’s Annual Sub-Saharan Africa Meetings held in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam on 2 and 4 July respectively, to facilitate the discussion on financing and risk mitigation issues impacting trade and investments into the economy.
The high attendance to these events, alongside the valuable amount of business covered in the last five years, are a clear evidence of how much the ATI and SACE partnership has thrived since its inception five years ago.
ATI reinsures many of SACE’s transactions in its member countries – transactions that involve investments coming into the region in the form of direct financing or the supply of goods or services from Italy to sectors such as agriculture, energy, manufacturing and infrastructure.
On the side-lines of the forum, George Otieno, ATI’s Chief Executive Officer commented, “SACE’s commitment to ATI and to our member countries is making a difference. They are currently working on a $326 million pipeline of new projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. For the region, this translates into more jobs, resources, capacity and opportunities.”
SACE is authorized to issue guarantees and insurance coverage for both political and commercial risks to which Italian entrepreneurs are exposed in their international activities. Within Sub-Saharan Africa, SACE is primarily active in Angola, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.
SACE is a joint stock company fully owned by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The Italian ECA and credit insurer has an A- credit rating from Fitch. SACE and its subsidiaries support the growth of more than 25,000 enterprises in 189 countries, to ensure more stable cash flows and to transform insolvency risks into development opportunities. SACE is present in Sub-Saharan Africa through a Representative Office in Johannesburg and a desk in Nairobi, hosted by ATI.
