The African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) and the government of Kenya co-hosted the Berne Union Annual Spring Meeting in Kilifi, Kenya, between 18 and 22 March 2018. The delegation of EXIM Bank, headed by Deputy Chief Executive Officer Dr. Dancsó József, participated at the Berne Union MLT Committee, ST Committee programs, and the plenary meeting. EXIM Bank signed the revised version of the 2003 MOU.

The Berne Union Annual Spring Meeting was attended by over 200 representatives of 80 insurance companies and multilateral financing and insurance organizations from 46 countries. Member institutions of the Berne Union together support around 14% of global exports, representing over USD 2,330 billion in facilitated cross-border trade.

The BU meeting was a great opportunity for bilateral meetings and information sharing. EXIM maintains an active business relationship with EDC, Canada’s export credit agency, due to GE exports from Hungary. With the intention of continuing joint financing and closing new deals, EXIM Bank signed the updated version of the MOU and its newly added appendices. Besides the EDC, the Hungarian delegation held short meetings with representatives of several private and public insurance companies (BpiFrance, EXIAR, Turk Eximbank, Slovak Eximbanka, US Exim, Sovereign, XL Catlin).

Hungarian ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Máthé László Eduárd, traveled from Nairobi to Kenya to meet the delegation of EXIM Bank and discuss the situation of the region under his supervision (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda), and the potential business opportunities for EXIM in the region.

The Berne Union meeting was focused on Africa, the assessment of economic opportunities and risks on the continent, and sharing of information and practices. Africa is a very important area right now, as it has six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies. In 2017 Berne Union members collectively covered trade to African countries for an amount of USD 80 billion. In addition, last year Berne Union members also supported USD 9 billion of foreign direct investment in Africa, in areas such as infrastructure, power generation including renewable energy, and mining.

To address the insurance gap in Africa, a risk-sharing platform called the African Energy Guarantee Facility (AEGF) was created by ATI, Munich Re Insurance and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The aim is to boost investment insurance availability by providing up to USD 1 billion in reinsurance capacity for African sustainable energy projects.

The facility is expected to mobilize significant private financing in the form of debt and equity from banks and developers that are currently constrained to participate in the African energy sector.