Follow Us on Google
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) have signed a three-year agreement to strengthen professional skills and institutional capacity in trade, insurance, reinsurance and risk management across Africa.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in Nairobi, Kenya, brings together the Afreximbank Academy (AFRACAD) and ZEP-RE Academy to develop training, research and knowledge programmes for professionals and institutions involved in Africa’s trade and investment ecosystem.
The agreement was signed by Afreximbank’s Group Managing Director, Human Resources, Stephen Tio Kauma, and ZEP-RE’s Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Jephita Gwatipedza.
Under the partnership, the two institutions will develop digital learning materials, including online courses, practical toolkits and African case studies.
The materials will be made available through AFRACAD’s digital learning platform and ZEP-RE Academy’s Learning Management System, giving professionals across African markets greater access to specialised training.
The institutions will also jointly organise professional and executive development programmes covering areas such as risk management, reinsurance, trade guarantees, trade facilitation, financial infrastructure and market development.
The programmes could include short courses, executive masterclasses and certification programmes delivered physically, online or through a combination of both.
The partnership will also support joint research and knowledge sharing through studies, webinars, policy discussions and industry forums involving regulators, private-sector operators, development partners and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Kauma said Africa’s ability to expand trade and investment depended not only on financing and infrastructure but also on the skills and institutional capacity available across the continent.
He said the partnership would combine Afreximbank’s expertise in African trade and trade finance with ZEP-RE’s experience in insurance, reinsurance and risk management.
“By combining these strengths, we can build practical, scalable and Global Africa-focused learning and knowledge solutions that equip professionals and institutions with the skills and knowledge to drive greater trade and investment across the continent,” he said.
Gwatipedza said sustainable expansion of trade required institutions involved in financing and facilitating trade to have the capacity to understand and manage the risks involved.
Other News
He said the partnership would help link trade finance expertise with insurance and reinsurance knowledge, thereby strengthening institutions across African markets.
The new agreement builds on an existing relationship between Afreximbank and ZEP-RE.
In 2025, both institutions launched the Trans-Africa Bond Alliance (TABA), an initiative designed to strengthen insurance capacity, facilitate cross-border trade and improve the movement of goods and investment across Africa.
Since commencing operations in June 2025, TABA has supported about $185 million in bonds in 2025 and another $280 million in the first quarter of 2026.
The risks involved originated from 24 cedents, or organisations that transferred insurance risks, across five countries.
TABA supports Afreximbank’s African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme (AACTGS), which seeks to make it easier and cheaper for goods to move across African borders.
The wider scheme has $1 billion in guarantee limits, including a $300 million facility being implemented with ZEP-RE in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region.
The initiative is aimed at reducing the need for traders to obtain several transit bonds in different countries, freeing up money that would otherwise be tied up as collateral and making cross-border trade more predictable.
Afreximbank and ZEP-RE said the new capacity-building partnership would provide the technical knowledge required to manage increasingly complex trade, insurance and risk-related transactions across African markets.
The institutions said the partnership would also help develop a larger pool of African professionals capable of addressing challenges at the intersection of trade, finance, insurance and risk management, while supporting regional economic integration.
The MoU will run for three years and may be renewed by mutual agreement.
