Central & East Africa Trade & Commodity Finance Conference

Event Review

As the hub for trading in the Horn of Africa, Nairobi provided the ideal venue for Exporta's Central & East Africa Trade & Commodity Finance Conference, which took place on November 25-26.

The conference featured a broad range of topics and a high level selection of delegates, tackling trends and challenges in trade and commodity financing, issues of structured finance, appetite for risk, political considerations, corporate challenges, as well as case studies on the IFC's Global Trade Liquidity Programme (GTLP) and the newly established Bourse Commodity Exchange in Botswana. Other sectors tackled in depth included agribusines, oil and gas, telecommunications and power infrastructure.

Description

Exporta’s Central & East Africa Trade & Commodity Finance Conference 2009, held in Nairobi, Kenya, will focus on the vast commercial opportunities and current trade trends and patterns within the Central & East African market, covering key issues such as trade finance structures, commodity pricing challenges, agribusiness, project finance, infrastructural development, legal frameworks and assessing appetite for risk.

Topics that will be covered include: 

• Assessing appetite for risk following squeezes in liquidity
• Global commodity trends, supply versus demand
• Structuring trade deals in local markets
• Agribusiness: increasing productivity of local industries
• Considering the region's energy potential following recent discoveries
• Legal frameworks: evaluating the progress of reform
• Opportunities for investment in key infrastructure
• Addressing key challenges faced in the transportation of commodities

These issues and many more will be covered during this unrivalled two-day event in Nairobi, during which delegates will be able to hear from industry leaders, engage in fruitful debate through various discussion panels, gain crucial insight from a number of highly relevant case studies, and exchange views and network with fellow delegates and speakers alike. These opportunities for engagement will extend beyond the two days of the conference, with an evening reception also provided for all guests.

Who should attend?

• Importers/exporters
• Financiers
• Bankers
• Corporates
• Manufacturers
• Distributors
• Export credit agencies
• Multilateral institutions
• Credit and political risk insurers
• Lawyers

Event Photos

Brochure

Programme

DAY ONE

08.15 Registration and refreshments

09.20 Introduction from the chair
Tapiwa Shamu, Investment Banking Originator, Africa, Nedbank Capital

09.30 Trade finance: a market update
Anne-Marie Woolley, Director, Head of Trade Finance & Services, Standard Bank Africa
• Overcoming recent restrictions, tightening of margins and shortening of tenors
• Availability of lines of credit
• Assessing appetite for risk following squeezes in liquidity
• Implications for local commodity traders

10.00 Panel discussion: commodity financing trends and challenges
Moderator: Tapiwa Shamu, Investment Banking Originator, Nedbank Capital
Peninah Kimweli, Head of Trade Finance, Kenya Commercial Bank
Michael Wachira, Director of Treasury & Trade Finance, Equity Bank
Anne-Marie Woolley, Director, Head of Trade Finance & Services, Standard Bank Africa
• Global commodity trends, supply versus demand
• Increases in corporate sourcing of soft commodities such as cocoa, coffee and tea
• Relocation of traders to outside the region – the impact on local producers
• Reduction of exposure from international banks within the region
• The role of local banks in commodity financing

10.45 Structured finance
Sekete Mokgehle, Head, Global Structured Trade & Commodity Finance, Nedbank
• How to structure trade deals in local markets
• Competition between banks; local, international, export-import banks

11.15 Networking break

11.45 Commodity exchanges: connecting trade in Africa
Chris Goromonzi, Managing Director, Bourse Africa
• Challenges in handling the trading of various commodities across the continent
• Linkages with other international exchanges and the need for coordinated cooperation
• Providing a platform enabling the efficient delivery and procurement of a range of commodities
• Bringing in price discovery, risk management and investment opportunities to local providers

12.15 Agribusiness: increasing productivity of local industries
Peter Kegode, Chairman, Sugar Campaign for Change (Sucam)
• Achieving economic growth through increased agricultural output
• Trends and patterns in soft commodity financing
• Use of collateral for financing within the agriculture sector
• Promoting best practice and improving infrastructure
• Identifying key sectors for development

12.45 IFC’s Global Trade Liquidity Program: a case study
Sabrina Borlini, Trade Finance Specialist, Global Trade Finance Program, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Promoting banking partnerships and increasing trade networks
• Reducing risk to enhance cross-border trade levels
• Knowledge sharing and improving trade finance awareness in the region

13.15 Lunch

14.15 Keynote: challenges for the private sector
Moses Kiambuthi, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM)
• Considering the opportunities and challenges for local businesses in the marketplace
• Maintaining trade flows in the current economic climate
• The need to keeping pricing competitive with the rest of the world

14.45 Legal frameworks: evaluating the progress of reform in assisting structured trade
Geoffrey Wynne, Partner, Head of International Trade & Export Finance, Denton Wilde Sapte
Paras Shah, Partner, Hamilton, Harrison & Matthews
• The importance of close collaboration between local and international law firms
• Assessing the progress so far in providing a ‘business-friendly’ environment
• Coping with extended planning and ‘run-up’ periods in completing trade deals
• ‘Falling by the wayside’ – why do so many deals falter in the region?
• Reduction of bottlenecks and enforcement of laws to make CEA a more attractive destination

15.30 Investment in communications infrastructure
Chris Tiffin, Chief Finance Officer, Safaricom Kenya
• Opportunities provided for investors in increasing penetration rates
• The surge in demand for internet access and broadband capabilities – infrastructural demands
• Challenges in adapting corporate strategy to maximize potential opportunities in East Africa
• The effects of volatile equity markets and how best to judge financial terms
• ‘Ground-floor’ opportunities such as DRC

16.00 Networking Break

16.45 Panel discussion: assessing market appetite in Central and Eastern Africa
Moderator: Tapiwa Shamu, Investment Banking Originator, Nedbank Capital
Humphrey Mwangi, Acting Chief Underwriting Officer, Africa Trade Insurance Agency (ATI)
Michael Creighton, Head of SACE SpA, SACE Sub Saharan Africa
Susanne With, Senior Advisor, EKN
• The outlook within the region for the insurance market
• Assessing the appetite for risk in the region and where demand is highest
• Considering the role of multilateral insurers in the current economic climate
• How do the various parties and actors work together to protect trade?

17.30 Chairman’s closing summary and remarks

17.30 Drink reception & dinner hosted by Standard Bank

DAY TWO

09.30 Opening remarks from the chair
Anne-Marie Woolley, Director, Head of Trade Finance & Services, Standard Bank Africa

09.45 Biofuels, oil and gas
Farid Mohamed, Director, Pipal
• Considering the region's high potential for hydrocarbons following recent discoveries
• Assessing the appetite for oil project lending and meeting financing challenges in the face of volatile prices
• Considering the impact of biofuel production in the face of a global food crisis
• Case studies and examples of successful biofuel production projects in the region

10.15 Political risk overview
Stewart Kinloch, Acting CEO, Africa Trade Insurance Agency (ATI)

11.00 Networking break

11.30 Logistics and movements of goods
James Wild, Chief Executive Officer, Louis Dreyfus Commodities Kenya
• Addressing the key challenges faced in the transportation of commodities
• Considering how the level of ease for imports and exports into key ports affect regional trade

12.00 Project finance: challenges faced within the energy and mining sectors
Eric Kaleja, Regional Director, East Africa, Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG)
Bernhard van Meeteren, Senior Investment Officer, Africa, FMO
• Deferral of projects and decreases in project finance for key sectors
• Increases in funding costs and fall in demand
• Additional infrastructural costs in fulfilling projects (eg DRC) – is it worth the cost?
• Public-private partnerships and the role of DFIs
• Loan guarantees and an increased role for ECAs
• Case studies of power projects in key countries (Bujagali Falls hydropower plant in Uganda, Rabai independent power project (IPP) in Kenya)

13.00 Concluding remarks and close of conference

Venue

Accommodation

Delegates are responsible for the arrangement of their own travel and accommodation. Details on how to book accommodation will be sent to each delegate when they register to attend the conference.

Sponsors

Sponsorship opportunities including exhibition stands are available for this event.

To become a sponsor, please contact Tom Whitehead, Head of Sponsorship Sales at twhitehead@exportagroup.com.

Exporta's events have a global reputation, renowned for superb networking opportunities and educational presentations by high-profile speakers.

Time after time our events attract the leading companies in our market as sponsors.

See below for a full list of our Event Sponsors, Institutional Partners and Media Partners and click on the logo to visit their web site. 

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