Finance

Ecobank can exchange its existing SwiftMT & ISO20022 messages with Nium to initiate payments on the real-time platform. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, a leading pan-African financial services group, has partnered with Nium, a global infrastructure for real-time cross-border payments, in order to unlock seamless cross-border payments across African markets

Targeting 35 African markets across the continent as well as 32 million customers, the new initiative is aiming to enable faster, more efficient international payments for business and consumers.

“We are thrilled to partner with Ecobank and introduce Nium’s cutting-edge real-time payment capabilities to Africa,” remarked Anupam Pahuja, general manager and executive vice president for APAC, Middle East and Africa at Nium. “This collaboration represents an important step forward in expanding our global payments network, and we are proud to support Ecobank in delivering faster, more efficient payments for its customers across the region.”

Faster payments for African users

As per the agreement, Ecobank’s existing banking operations will be bolstered by the integration of Nium’s real-time payments infrastructure, empowering the financial services group to enhance its services for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

According to the company, it will connect its existing Swift workflows to Nium, thus gaining access to real-time transfers, updates, clearing, settlement, and payment tracking, without the need for complex API integrations.

This development is expected to reduce waiting times for cross-border payments, enabling businesses to make faster payments to more than 220 markets. This will unlock more opportunities for SMEs to connect with global markets.

Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Group, surmised, “Partnering with Nium allows us to enhance our service offerings and provide our customers with faster, more efficient cross-border payment solutions. By leveraging our unique API-based payment platform, this collaboration is a significant step towards advancing financial inclusion and connectivity across Africa and enabling businesses to thrive in a global marketplace.”

Samaila Zubairu and Saad Al-Khalb signing the Mou. (Image source: AFC)

The Saudi Export-Import Bank (Saudi EXIM) and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) have signed an MoU to collaborate on initiatives aimed at enhancing exports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and AFC member companies

“The MoU with the Africa Finance Corporation comes as part of the bank’s commitment to enhancing international economic and trade relations,” remarked Saudi EXIM CEO, H.E. Eng. Saad Al-Khalb. “The agreement will cover several areas of cooperation, including exploring opportunities to support joint projects between companies in the Kingdom and the member countries of AFC, by providing credit solutions that support companies and institutions of all sizes and activities. It will also pave the way for local investors to benefit from promising investment opportunities in Africa, thereby enhancing the flow of non-oil Saudi exports to expand into various African markets, in line with empowering the non-oil national economy and creating a diverse and inclusive economy in line with Saudi Vision 2030.”

Confirmed on the sidelines of the 2024 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, the MoU will also promote the exchange of information, technical expertise and knowledge sharing between the two organisations.

Samaila Zubairu, president & CEO of AFC, added, "Strategic partnerships are vital for economic transformation, and in today’s world, no nation can tackle sustainable development alone. As such, AFC is pleased to partner with the Saudi Exim Bank, marking a major milestone in strengthening ties between Africa and Saudi Arabia. Leveraging our collective expertise and resources, we aim to contribute significantly to driving industrialization, facilitating trade and creating jobs for a dynamic economic ecosystem that benefits both regions.”

The report offers a vision of climate finance’s future. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

A new report by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) has revealed that climate finance flows into Africa are far below what is required to meet the continent’s climate adaption and mitigation needs

The ‘Landscape of Climate Finance in Africa 2024’ report, commissioned by FSD Africa, sets out these damning findings that could lead to potentially catastrophic social and economic implications. According to the research, there was actually a 48% growth of climate finance to the continent in 2021/2022 from 2019/2020. This saw climate finance reach US$44bn, with private sector finance also doubling to reach US$8bn.

However, despite this move in the right direction, the research indicated that this is simply not enough, with a grave financing gap threatening Africa’s long-term sustainable development trajectory. Key findings from the report include:

• Climate finance was only 23% of the estimated finance required annually for countries to implement their NDCs and meet their 2030 climate goals;

• Finance from domestic actors made up only 10% of total climate finance and funding from African governments remains in decline (from US$1.bn in 2019/020 to US$1bn in 2021/2022);

• There is a huge regional imbalance in flow with the top ten countries receiving 50% of total finance and the bottom 30 receiving just 10%;

• Private finance comprises only 18% of total climate flows;

• Half of all private finance goes to South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria.

Rate of growth "too slow"

“Climate change has the potential to cause Africa major and unprecedented economic disruption and reverse gains made in the recent past,” said Mark Napier, chief executive officer of FSD Africa. “To counter all actors must invest in a more sustainable future. Climate finance is the key element which will determine Africa’s ability to adapt to, mitigate, and develop through, a changing climate. This report by the CPI provides policymakers and decision makers on the continent with a survey of the climate finance landscape as it is now, and as it can – and must – develop in the future.”

In order to do so, the report also provides recommendations to address the gap and accelerate funding such as:

• Establishing an ambitious enabling environment to mobilise capital;

• Strengthening coordination between investors and development financiers to scale-up private sector investment through concessional resources;

• Maximising the impact of mitigation and adaptation investments by stronger integration of climate and development objectives into national policy development and long-term strategies.

• Seeking out and investing in the numerous business opportunities for green, resilient growth in Africa, taking advantage of growing pools of concessional finance and guarantees, while integrating climate risk management from the outset into decision-making.

“It is encouraging to see more climate finance flows in Africa, but the rate of growth is too slow,” surmised Barbara Buchner, global managing director of Climate Policy Initiative. “Public policy and investment must be targeted effectively, and private capital, both domestic and international, can no longer sit on the sidelines. Otherwise, the significant economic opportunities currently available across the continent will be overshadowed by severe economic losses and catastrophic social consequences.”

The transaction marks a significant milestone as the first investment under the Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator. (Image source: BII)

British International Investment, a development finance institution and impact investor, has sought to boost private sector growth in high-impact sectors through the launch of a US$25mn risk sharing facility with Ecobank Sierra Leone

Currently, SMEs provide employment for about 70% of Sierra Leone’s population. Despite representing a crucial component of the country’s economy, BII has noted that these businesses still struggle to gain access to capital due to a number of factors such as limited availability of suitable financial products, high collateral requirements, high interest rates and the prevalence of short-term loans.

The risk sharing facility, which includes a comprehensive technical assistance programme, will therefore support Ecobank to increase lending to ambitious businesses in a frontier market where economic growth is hampered by lack of capital and investment.

“The signing of this agreement with Ecobank Sierra Leone underscores BII’s pioneering role to lead investments in countries that are often overlooked by investors,” remarked Samir Abhyankar, MD and head of financial services, BII. “The facility will be a game-changer for Sierra Leone, providing much-needed capital for ambitious local businesses to accelerate their growth, spur job creation and deepen impact. It’s an example of BII innovating and working with partners to help address pressing challenges where it matters the most.”

Growing Sierra Leone business

Building on US$50mn trade finance facility between the two entities in 2021 (which helped the bank to deepen its reach across Africa), the new facility will support local currency lending. According to BII, it will demonstrate its ability to act as the first mover in frontier markets and drive impact through risk navigation strategies.

Sebastian Ashong-Katai, managing director, Ecobank Sierra Leone, remarked, “We are delighted to have secured the support of British International Investment in boosting Ecobank’s vital lending capacity for Sierra Leone businesses who are the engine room for our country’s growth, economic development and employment. This further strengthens our intent to be the bank of choice for Sierra Leone’s businesses and leverages our delivery of world-class products, services, solutions, borderless digital pan-African platform and business skills training which are designed to support them in further growing their businesses.”

The investment will help Ecobank Sierra Leone to grow its loan book by increasing credit limits and extend lending tenors to up to five years. This is expected to boost business growth, create more jobs and increase private sector contribution to Sierra Leone’s economy.