FCI Factoring in Africa Conference was a great success!

A large media presence included TV and radio and local press seemed keen to report on what was clearly seen as an important financial gathering. Emmanuel Doni-Kwame, a prominent local businessman and head of the Ghanaian International Chamber of Commerce welcomed the delegates. The Chairman of Factors Chain international, Daniela Bonzanini, formally opened the event. The programme covered all the fundamentals of factoring including mechanics, law, IT, services and legal structure and the two factor system. A heavy flow of questions from the audience throughout virtually the whole event displayed an eager appetite to understand the opportunity for factoring in Africa.

The significance of international trade to developing economies such as those in SSA cannot be overstated. A Growth Commission report of 2008 said that ‘while there is no one generic recipe for growth, there are a series of ingredients that countries can blend in different ways to suit their own unique circumstances’. One of the eight ingredients highlighted by the Commission was trade-related. The report also said that ‘no country has grown on a sustained basis in recent times without increasingly integrating itself into the global economy’. Underpinning much of this trade, particularly where SMEs are involved, are financial structures including factoring.

The potential for factoring growth in Africa is clearly enormous, with less than a dozen factoring operations in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, yet rapidly expanding economies and a fast growing SME sector. As such and perhaps unsurprisingly, to FCI will plan future events in the region!

Speaking at FCI’s first Factoring in Africa event were: Daniela Bonzanini, FCI Chairman; Peter Mulroy, FCI Secretary General; Josep Selles, FCI Executive Committee Member; Michael Bickers, Managing Director, BCR Publishing;  Emmanuel Doni-Kwam, International Chamber of Commerce, Ghana; David Bischof, Policy Manager, Banking Commission, International Chamber of Commerce; Nassarou Aminou, Regional Factoring Manager, Coface; Nii Arday Wontumi, Head of Legal, Societe General Ghana; Ben Hosh, Consultant, Triangle Trade Finance Ltd; Darryll Lewis, Sales and Marketing Director, HPD Software; Laurent Tabouelle, Chief Operating Officer, Codix; Anthony Avison, Chief Executive Officer, Dancerace; Philippe Hoeblich, Regional Commercial Manager, Maghreb West & Central Africa, Coface; Theodore Daniel Laryea, Business Credit Administration, SG-SSB Ltd Soci?t? G?n?rale; Solomon Lartey, Chief Operations Officer, Activa.

For more information, contact:

Mr. Peter Mulroy
Secretary General
Factors Chain International
Keizersgracht 559
1017 DR Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-(0)20-6270306
fci@fci.nl

Source: FACTORing PRO