HARARE: Zimbabwe’s bid to join the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) has received a major boost after the African Development Bank (AfDB) chipped in with $4 million of the money required to get registration, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.
Zimbabwe requires $15 million as minimum capital subscription to the ATI. “Government has since secured $4 million from the African Development Bank towards the minimum capital subscription of $15 million. The balance is being mobilised from local private financial institutions during the last half of 2015,” Chinamasa said.
He said the Ministry of Industry and Commerce had initiated the ratification process which was expected to be finalised before the end of the year.
ATI provides political risk and trade credit risk insurance products with the objective of reducing the business risk and cost of doing business in Africa.
It aims to help increase investments into African member countries and two-way trade flows between Africa and the world.
Chinamasa said ATI membership would enhance the country’s capacity to borrow from international financial markets by significantly reducing the country’s sovereign risk premium arising from negative perception by the international community.
Joining the ATI ties in with government’s thrust of reducing the cost of doing business and mobilising resources from international financial institutions to help reboot the economy which has shown signs of stress.
ATI has 10 African member countries that include Benin, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Zambia.
Its other members include AfDB, Africa Reinsurance Corporation, Atradius Group, SACE, Comesa, PTA Bank and Zep Re. ATI was launched in 2001 with the financial and technical support of the World Bank and the backing of seven African countries.
Since 2003, it has supported over $13 billion worth of trade and investments across the continent. The membership has expanded over the years and ATI plans to attract even more African member countries and international financial institutions.
