African Trade Insurance Agency holds investment forum
African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), a credit and political Investment Risk Insurer, will hold a forum in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, with the objective of explaining how the firm’s products will benefit both the public and private sectors in Nigeria as the country moves towards finalising its shareholding in ATI.
The forum, which is themed “De-risking Trade and Investments in Nigeria”, will take place November 26, 2018 in Abuja at Transcorp Hilton.
According to the A’ rated institution, the forum will serve as an advantage to African governments in closing the investment insurance deficit that exists in most African countries.
George Otieno, CEO, ATI said, in a statement, made available to BusinessDay, “Without adequate coverage, international lenders and investors are limited with the amount they can invest or lend in our markets thus impeding economic growth, ATI helps to fill this gap by providing increased investment insurance capacity.”
ATI and its partners created the Co-Guarantee Platform for Africa, an innovative and collective de-risking instrument, to address the perceived high risk across the continent and the lack of capacity of traditional lenders to provide risk mitigation products for projects.
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into the country has been on a decline. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Investment (UNCTDI) 2018 report. FDI to Nigeria fell by 21 per cent to $3.5 billion in 2017 from $4.4 billion in 2016.
Recently, Africa’s biggest economy applied for membership in ATI and this is the reason why the agency decided to host an awareness workshop in Abuja so that the Government and the private sector can appreciate the myriad benefits of prospective membership
“With membership in ATI, Nigeria would secure approximately of $500 – $750 million in extra investment insurance capacity, which would support billions into the economy annually. To give a concrete example, between 2016 and 2018, ATI has had to turn down enquiries to support trade and investments in Nigeria valued at $3.5 billion. Without ATI’s brand of insurance, these types of transactions would be very expensive or might not proceed at all,” Otieno noted.
ATI, a Kenya based agency is a pan-African institution provides political risk insurance to companies, investors, and lenders
Historically, in 2000, a group of East African countries, under the leadership of COMESA, commissioned a World Bank-funded study to look into why the region wasn’t attracting more Foreign Direct Investments.
And according to the study, the results showed political risks was the main concern of investors.
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