ADB’s Trade Finance Program provides guarantees and loans in support of trade in developing Asia through over 200 partner banks.
Under the just-signed agreement, ADB will share all legal document templates, operation manuals, information technology, and know-how related to its Trade Finance Program with AfDB.
Currently, to channel critical trade support to companies across the African continent, AfDB is scaling up its trade finance activities.
ADB said it will help AfDB set up a trade finance program to boost African trade, and, more broadly, South-South trade.
ADB and AfDB expect cooperation to grow in the future, including sharing access to their programs to link banks in both regions. ADB already has such an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank.
Philip Erquiaga, director general of ADB’s private sector operations department which oversees the Trade Finance Program, said partnerships are key to promoting economic growth, and using the Trade Finance Program framework developed by ADB will help AfDB to achieve in Africa the success ADB has achieved in Asia, but much faster and at a fraction of the start-up cost.
