Factoring has become relevant after the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) in a context of health crisis.
Given the negative and disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the finances of SMEs in Africa, there is an urgent need to promote factoring and exploit it to enable SMEs to expand their activities. In addition, it will help to increase their export capacity, increase intra-African trade as part of the post-COVID-19 recovery and build resilience to build back better.
According to the Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Professor Emmanuel Nnadozie, factoring is an effective and user-friendly solution that can make a difference for African businesses.
AfreximBank (African Export-Import Bank) has reaffirmed its commitment to support factoring as a viable alternative source of trade finance for SMEs in Africa. “Given that access to finance remains a key constraint for SME operations in Africa, the availability of sustainable trade finance is essential to propel the ACFTA,” said Ms. Kanayo Awan, Director General (DG) of the Intra-African Trade Initiative.
“So far, the Bank has provided financing to emerging factoring companies in Cameroon, Senegal, Congo, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Nigeria, while factoring volumes in Africa have increased by 10% to reach €24 billion in 2019,” adds DG Kanayo Awan.
Technically, factoring is not a loan but a facilitating instrument. “I implore potential and existing entrepreneurs to try to learn more and take advantage of this instrument,” urges Professor Emmanuel Nnadozie, Executive Secretary of ACBF.
The African Capacity Building Foundation also calls on key stakeholders, such as government officials, African regional organizations, regulators, chambers of commerce and the private sector in general, to work towards improving the legal and regulatory environment for factoring, as confidence in this instrument will enable many stakeholders to reap the benefits of intra-African trade and grow Africa’s economy.
Factoring is a financial transaction and a type of debt financing in which a business sells its receivables or outstanding invoices to a third party at a discount. It is a form of selling the receivables to an agent at less than its full value in order to trade.
Gérard Rugambwa
