Uganda: Press Releases: Africa Trade Insurance Agency Opens Uganda Office

Thursday, 14 May 2009

NAIROBI, 29 April 2009 --- The financial crisis is causing some investors to lose their appetite for African markets. Simultaneously, demand for African exports is weakening and African companies are feeling the effects. Increased access to products that could protect investors and exporters from risks such as political risk and non-payment by customers could help reduce the impacts. On 6 May, the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), of which the Government of Uganda is a member, officially launched its local office in Kampala, where it will offer customised political risk, credit risk and export credit insurance products in the local market. The ATI launch at the Serena Hotel on 6 May 2009 featured a press briefing with the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda, and a cocktail hosted by the Honourable Syda Bbumba, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.  Falling commodity prices are expected to adversely impact Uganda’s coffee and fish exports, which account for over 50% of the country’s overall exports. Although Uganda has diversified into manufacturing and horticulture in recent years, the financial crisis is also threatening these sectors. ATI, which supported transactions across Africa in excess of USD765m last year, is creating a tailor-made solution that will help exporters in these emerging areas of the economy. To support Ugandan exporters in the floricultural sector against export credit risks, for example, ATI is working with the flower exporters industry to create a specialised insurance product expected to launch later this year. The agency also plans to roll out a ground breaking product it developed for Kenya in 2008 covering Political Violence, Civil Disturbance, Terrorism and Sabotage.  For African companies like HighChem, a Kenya-based distributor of industrial chemicals supplying to buyers in Uganda and across East and Southern Africa, ATI insurance coverage has given peace of mind and security against non-payment from their buyers. “We obtained credit risk insurance from ATI a couple of years ago just as we were exporting to more markets,” explained HighChem Director, John Griffin. “In retrospect, our insurance purchase was timely. What we couldn’t have predicted then were two major incidents that would happen within months of each other – the political violence in Kenya and the global financial crisis – both of which could have impacted our buyers’ ability to pay us. ATI’s credit assessment process is very much complementary to our own.” Awarded a Stable Long Term ‘A’ rating by Standard & Poor’s and fully capitalised by its member countries and organisations, ATI is embarking on an expansion strategy to support up to USD1bn annually in exports and imports and to attract more African countries and international investors to become members. ATI currently has 13 African member states and 4 regional and private sector members, one of which is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA), which was instrumental in the creation of ATI in 2001. “Our clients and partners reside across the globe. Our goal over the next three years will be to expand our reach into more African countries, while establishing more international partnerships. This will help us to continue providing local, regional and international solutions that support African trade and investments, “noted ATI’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter M. Jones.  ATI’s Uganda Office is hosted by the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda, where it has been operating since 2007. The agency also has a field office in Lusaka, Zambia and hopes to launch at least two more offices in East Africa this year.  Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Show/Hide comment form Name Email Title Comment smaller | bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage. Add Comment