2023-07-29 15:40:38
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $70 million risk participation agreement with Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), to develop foreign trade. This agreement is the second with the BCP, registered within the framework of the program “Risk participation agreement (50/50) for the benefit of the People’s Central Bank of Morocco”, indicates a press release from the AfDB, in a context of hardening of the regulatory capital standards and compliance in Africa.
This has led international banks to reduce the levels of their commitments and the number of their correspondents in Africa, underlines the same source, noting that this agreement will allow the BCP to respond to this problem by supporting local banks on the continent, faced with a decrease in financing and confirmation lines with their correspondents.
The objective of this agreement is to strengthen the capacity of African banks and that of their small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) customers by consolidating the relationships of trust between the actors of the African banking system in order to accelerate the development of regional foreign trade. and internationally.
It also aims to help SMEs operating in several African countries to have access to trade finance instruments. According to the same source, the direct beneficiaries are the African issuing banks whose trade finance activity is constrained by the insufficient trade confirmation lines made available by the international confirming banks.
Indirect beneficiaries are local African SMEs and businesses that rely on issuing banks to meet their trade finance commitments.
Regarding the expected results, the AfDB stresses that the risk-sharing agreement will meet the growing demand from African markets for trade finance in vital economic sectors such as agriculture and agribusiness. , renewable energies, manufacturing, health, telecommunications and services.
It will also contribute to the diversification of production, promoting job creation and additional tax revenue for several African States, thus consolidating their economic resilience, and will guarantee commercial banks and African SMEs stable access to financing for their development operations. foreign trade which constitutes an important vector of economic growth and regional integration.
In addition, it will support the realization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which will unlock the continent’s full growth potential and create new opportunities and jobs.
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