ATI in Niger Sensitizes Market on Trade and Investment
Mr Manuel Moses, ATI’s CEO
Following Niger’s membership in ATI, the Ministry of Finance and ATI hosted a workshop to officially launch its operations in the country.
The Workshop, whose theme was de-risking Trade & Investments in Africa for African MSMEs, was organized on the margins of the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government on Industrialization, Economic Diversification and the AfCFTA, with an objective of attracting investments and spurring trade in the West African region.
Niger became the 16th African member country to join ATI, thanks to a grant from the European Investment Bank, with an initial shareholding capital of EUR12.1 million. Since becoming a member, ATI has supported Niger’s business transactions worth EUR211 million while the country’s current exposure stands at approximately EUR200 million and a current pipeline of EUR6 million in the financial sector. All these despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively impacted Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth across the continent.
Niger’s Membership to ATI could not have come at a better time as the country’s strategic plan (2020-2024) focuses on supporting government emergency response while implementing integrated resilience activities to protect livelihoods and foster long-term recovery.
One of the landmark transactions in Niger included its first international commercial financing of EUR193 million, with a tenure of 10 years. The loan was used to support the country’s social and economic development agenda by reprofiling Niger’s existing short-term and expensive domestic debt with more affordable long-term debt.
This transaction was in line with observations from the IMF captured in its July 2019 country review, which noted that a debt reprofiling operation would usher in a period of more stable funding for Niger.
Scheduled as part of this sensitization drive is a series of events, including a meeting with the Minister of Finance, H.E. Ahmat Jidoud, a gala dinner and B2B meetings with financial institutions and energy sector players. As an outcome of this workshop, financial institutions in Africa will have access to a range of guarantee and insurance products, which will benefit local private sector actors, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Ahmat Jidoud, Minister of Finance of Niger, speaking on the issue said “On behalf of the Government of Niger, I take this opportunity to thank the Management of ATI for their support since Niger became a shareholder of ATI. Our country is already benefitting from ATI’s insurance solutions, and I urge ATI to continue doing more in support to spur trade and investments through organizing more seminars and workshops of this magnitude in order to disseminate more information to the stakeholders and to improve the business climate in our country.”
According to Mr Manuel Moses, ATI’s CEO “We are grateful to the Government of Niger for allowing us to launch our activities in the country. FDI is an essential part of economic growth and acts as a catalyst for sustainable development in our Member Countries. We are keen to work with Niger through our insurance to further promote the country as a premier destination for trade and investment.”
