UAE and Africa are working to strengthen their economic ties by signing a reciprocal reinsurance agreement to boost export and trade between the two markets.
UAE and Africa are working to improve trade ties between the two markets through a reciprocal reinsurance agreement signed between Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company, and the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI). The agreement will provide trade credit insurance and trade finance solutions to businesses.
Credit and finance solutions
The two organizations signed an MoU in March 2021 with a view to enhancing the global competitiveness of exporters by improving awareness of export credit and trade finance solutions. Under the agreement, signed by Massimo Falcioni, CEO of Etihad Credit Insurance and Manuel Moses, CEO of ATI, the organizations will support joint Emirati and African ventures in their own countries as well as their collaborative initiatives in other countries by sharing risks and enabling companies to grow global trade.
Falcioni said, “UAE and [the] African continent enjoy illustrious historic bilateral trade relations, and we at ECI are proud to reinforce that tradition with the support of ATI. This collaboration will provide UAE exporters real confidence to access the African region’s diverse markets and resources with state-backed guarantees and safeguards against commercial and political uncertainties.” Moses went on to say, “This deal with ECI is a major step to strengthen our commitment to providing risk solutions to businesses, investors and commercial lenders interested in doing business in the UAE and Africa. Deepening our ongoing partnership, this reinsurance agreement will pave the way to unparalleled trading opportunities for businesses to improve their regional and global competitiveness.”
UAE and African trade
Trade between the UAE and Africa has seen steady growth over recent years, and the UAE is a significant investor in Africa, participating in 71 different projects worth USD 5.64 billion, according to research consultancy Knight Frank.
According to data published by the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the value of non-oil trade between the two reached USD 40.7 billion in the first nine months of 2020, compared to USD 36.9 billion in the same period of 2019, while the value of non-oil trade amounted to USD 50 billion in 2019, compared to USD 33 billion in 2015.
UAE African investments soaring
The UAE is actively participating in investment across Africa, particularly in the sectors of tourism, infrastructure, energy, transport, and logistics and investors are heavily involved in the startup environment.