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British International Investment (BII) and Deutsche Bank have unveiled a $150 million trade finance facility aimed at expanding access to funding across Africa, particularly in high-risk and underserved markets.
Announced on March 16, the initiative is designed to help close the continent’s estimated $100 billion trade finance gap, as highlighted by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). By improving access to credit, the programme is expected to strengthen cross-border trade and support industrial development.
At the core of the facility is a risk-sharing structure that enables local banks to increase their lending capacity for trade-related transactions. This approach is intended to ease constraints that often limit banks’ ability to finance imports, exports, and other commercial activities.
According to Anand Jha, Global Head of Trade Finance for Financial Institutions at Deutsche Bank, the partnership enhances the bank’s ability to support sustainable trade flows across the continent by combining its global platform with BII’s regional expertise and development mandate.
The programme will prioritise key growth markets, including Zambia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, where access to trade finance remains limited. By providing additional liquidity, the facility will enable local banks to extend more credit to businesses, particularly for the importation of raw materials and industrial equipment.
This, in turn, is expected to strengthen local production capacity, deepen value chains, and accelerate industrialisation across participating economies.
Ndaba Mpofu, Managing Director and Head of Financial Services, Debt and Trade Finance at BII, emphasised that expanding access to trade finance is critical to ensuring the smooth flow of essential goods and fostering sustainable economic growth.
The initiative comes at a time when intra-African trade continues to gain momentum. According to Afreximbank, trade within the continent reached $208 billion in 2024, representing a 7.7 percent increase year-on-year. Stakeholders believe the new facility could further accelerate this growth by addressing liquidity challenges and improving access to financing for businesses across Africa.
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