The African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed on Sunday a term sheet for a $30 million interstate transit guarantee with Uganda's BSMART Technology. The facility will remove the requirement for container users to pay an upfront security deposit to shipping lines for obligations related to damage, demurrage, and total loss thereby removing one of the key barriers to trade in the marine transport industry. It will help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other mid-sized trading entities improve turnaround efficiencies at ports and border posts and accelerate the potential for the digital integration of import and export flows into trade finance platforms. Afreximbank's facility is expected to facilitate intra-African trade, increase efficiency, reduce the cost of doing business, increase the competitiveness of SMEs, safeguard relationships between shipping lines and their customers, eliminate the administrative burdens of container deposits, and facilitate participation in regional and global value chains. The move will further Afreximbank's promotion of intra-African trade and its support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which are core objectives of the Bank's Plan 6, and its implementation is guided by the 'Create, Connect and Deliver' themes conceived under Plan 5. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank at Afreximbank, has signed the agreement with Mai WenHao, CEO of BSMART Technology, at the third edition of Africa's largest trade and investment fair, IATF 2023 taking place in Cairo, Egypt on November 9-15.
