One of the key institutions flying the flag of the UK financial services industry in sub-Saharan Africa is Ghana International Bank (GHIB). GHIB is a British Trade Bank, wholly owned by Ghanaian shareholders, which is focused on providing access to international trade finance for African corporates, banks and sovereigns, through London. The Bank has operated continuously from  London since 1959, and is a systemically important partner to a number of economies on the continent, including Ghana.

In August this year, GHIB hosted its flagship thought-leadership event in London, dubbed ‘CNVERGE’. The conference created a critical platform for dialogue and collaboration on the future of African international trade banking. The event brought together key leaders, innovators, and stakeholders from across the African continent to explore transformative strategies in trade finance, positioning it as a sustainable alternative to debt-driven economic models.

The inaugural ‘CNVERGE’ conference, which was held under the theme “The Risk/Opportunity Interplay for African Trade,” had participants from over 60 corporates, sovereigns and banks operating in the United Kingdom and Sub-Sahara Africa. High-level representatives from the central banks of Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Nigeria attended the event. Some notable personalities at the event included Jennifer Jonah, Head of Compliance at Rokel Commercial Bank in Sierra Leone, Bakary Jaiteh, Credit Analyst at Mega Bank Gambia, Kafara Jobarteh, Director, Financial Markets and Reserve Management Department of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Momodou Njie, S&A Director, Corporate Services, Office of the Governor – Central Bank of The Gambia, and Muhammed Sissay, Head, Treasury Department, Trust Bank Gambia. Others were Miriam Otengo, Uganda High Commission, Muhammed Sissay, Head, Treasury Department, Trust Bank Gambia, Mamadou Bah, Head of Legal and Compliance Department, Vista Gambia, and Stephen Abban, Country Managing Director, Access Bank Gambia. 

Chief Executive Officer at GHIB, Dean Adansi, spoke on the relevance of the ‘CNVERGE platform in the current trade and economic landscape on the African continent. He said “Given the important role of trade in advancing growth in our markets, it is imperative that we find and implement solutions to promote trade activity.  I think the biggest question to keep in mind as we explore and discuss issues related to trade at this conference is how best to play our part in growing trade in our markets.  From our perspective at GHIB, the biggest obstacles to trade development continue to be the lack of funding (pre-shipment and post shipment financing), lack of expertise in structuring trade transactions, capacity issues related to marketing expertise, beneficiaries’ demand for rated and well capitalized confirming banks (which is why the majority of confirming banks in SSA are still foreign institutions), and ever more demanding compliance requirements.”

“CNVERGE has thus been constructed to tap into this experience and leverage our network of partners, customers, clients and indeed even competitors, so that we can begin a sustained series of regular roundtables to deliberate, brainstorm and propose new ideas towards growing African trade. For instance, this particular CNVERGE will empanel experts to discuss some very interesting topics as regards harmonized standards on financial crime for the continent and also digitizing trade finance operations towards more speedy and successful outcomes,” he added.

Economic experts agree that Africa’s path to a sustainable future of rapid and inclusive prosperity lies in expanding trade. Statistics show that increasing trade across the continent could unlock up to $70 billion in value. This vision was the driving force behind the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). However, several challenges continue to hinder this progress. Africa remains behind the rest of the world, contributing only 3% to global trade. Despite the momentum behind AfCFTA, significant breakthroughs have yet to be realized. One of the critical issues is trade finance, which is essential for fuelling trade across Africa. The African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates that the trade finance gap stands at around $81 billion. Additionally, Africa is often viewed as a high-risk trading environment, leading to increased costs for essential financial instruments needed to facilitate trade, such as international trade finance, correspondent banking, cross-border payments, and treasury solutions.

GHIB, through its ‘CNVERGE’ conference, is actualizing its aspiration to be part of the critical conversations towards addressing these challenges and shaping the future through addressing and solving some of these challenges. GHIB, which is considered one of the first pan-African trading financial institutions in the City of London, is uniquely placed to drive and lead the way in these conversations. GHIB is a platinum member of the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce.