ATI Partners EIB, KfW Development Bank, Others To Raise Awareness On Political, Credit Risk Insurance
The African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) held a series of awareness activities in Lomé, in partnership with Togo’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the KfW Development Bank.
This is in a bid to raise awareness within the relevant government agencies and private sector about political (investment) and credit risk insurance in Togo,
The country is set to benefit further from ATI’s insurance capacity that will help to reduce political (investment) and trade credit risks currently exposed to the country’s exporters, suppliers, lenders and investors – as more stakeholders will understand the benefits of ATI’s insurance products.
Togo became an ATI Member State in 2020, with an initial shareholding of USD12.5M, thanks to a concessional loan provided by EIB. In 2021, KfW provided additional funding of USD19.4M to increase Togo’s capital, thus becoming the highest African government shareholder, with a 10% shareholding. Two years since its completion of membership and the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, which halted the dynamic performance of the country, Togo has benefited from ATI’s insurance capacity to the tune of USD305M in the finance and transport sectors.
The Government of Togo and commercial banks remain ATI’s major clients. For example, Togo obtained a 10 – year commercial loan to reprofile and refinance part of its public debt.
Togo’s economic freedom is ranked 15th in sub-Saharan Africa and remains an attractive economy in Africa. The government continues to seek high-profile fora in which to promote trade and investment opportunities, as it implements its 5-year strategic plan, which seeks to not only develop innovative and sustainable solutions but also to identify financing resources as well as attract more investments with great socio-economic impact and consolidate its strategic positioning.
ATI is also keen to support the Government of Togo in its plans to achieve 100% electrification to all by 2030 in order to meet the SDG7, through its Regional Liquidity Facility (RLSF). RLSF, a joint initiative of ATI, KfW and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), is a guarantee instrument designed to address the short-term liquidity risks faced by renewable energy Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that sell electricity to state owned power utilities across Sub-Saharan Africa. ATI is working with the Togolese Ministry of Mines and Energy to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure that RLSF is soon available in the country.
Currently, seven of ATI’s Member States have signed the MoU and can benefit from RLSF: Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia, with the expectation that more of ATI’s twenty member countries will sign up.
“ATI’s presence in Lomé this week is as a result of a long process of membership that materialized, thanks to the firm commitment from His Excellency Faure Essozimna GNASSINGBE, President of the Republic, to make Togo an attractive destination for international investors and businesses. I, therefore, welcome this important initiative aimed at publicizing the operations of ATI in Togo, whose objective is to raise awareness about its unique and innovative insurance and guarantee products available to the Togolese economy. This partnership reinforces the arsenal of measures taken by the government to stimulate not only public and private investments in Togo, but also local and foreign,” Minister of Economy and Finance, Togo, Sani Yaya said.
According to ATI CEO, Manuel Moses, “ATI is here to collaborate and help Togo boost its competitiveness and I encourage businesses and investors to turn to ATI for their risk mitigation needs. It is important to note that ATI does not compete with local insurance companies because the services we provide are not typically offered in Africa. We look forward to partnering further with the government and private sector to help the light of economic development burn even brighter in Togo.”
Also speaking at the event the Vice – President, EIB, Ambroise Fayolle said, “EIB is a proud supporter of ATI and its mission to attract investment and promote growth in member countries. We are committed to supporting the continuing development of a vibrant African private sector. The expansion of investment insurance to help de-risk member countries and their private sector is an important step towards ensuring that economies reach their full potential, and we congratulate ATI on their contribution to this goal. EIB is expanding its work in Africa with the launch in 2022 of EIB Global, our branch dedicated to international partnerships and development.”
“The capital increase of Togo at ATI is KfW’s first project within the reform partnership between Germany and Togo which has a strong focus on the sustainable development of the Togolese economy. With its unique set of investment and trade credit insurance products, ATI is one of the key agencies in Africa to reduce investment and trade credit risks for investors, exporters and other economic actors active in the region. The capital increase of Togo will significantly enhance ATI’s insurance capacities in the Togolese market and increase the attractiveness of Togo as an investment destination,” Country Director, KfW, Togo, Sonja Wassermann said.
