Ivory Coast and Ethiopia to join Africa’s insurance body

Ivory Coast and Ethiopia are set to become new member states of Africa Trade Insurance (ATI), the continent’s insurance body, by the end of September after receiving a loan from a pan-African bank, an official said on Tuesday. 
ATI Chief Executive Officer, George Otieno, told a press briefing in the Kenyan capital Nairobi that the African Development Bank (AfDB) will lend 15 million U.S. dollars and 7.5 million dollars respectively to Ivory Coast and Ethiopia to enable them to join the export credit agency.
“The new countries are part of ATI’s expansion strategy to cover the entire continent,” Otieno said.
ATI, which draws membership from countries and multilateral organizations, has now ten African member states including Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Zambia. The minimum shareholding for each country is 7.5 million dollars.
Otieno said Sierra Leone was supposed to join the agency last year but the Ebola outbreak affected its plans.
“So we are expecting Sierra Leone to join next year,” he said.
Zimbabwe has already secured a 5 million dollar loan from the AfDB, and it is seeking to raise another ten million dollars from commercial banks in order to join the ATI.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has planned to push all its member states into the insurance body in the next four years, Otieno said.
According to its financial results, ATI recorded a profit of 3. 4 million dollars in 2014, up from 1.5 million dollars in 2013. It is the third consecutive year that the agency has recorded a net profit.
ATI Chief Financial Officer Toavina Ramamonjiarisoa said that the increase in profit is attributed to the rapidly expanding infrastructure sector in its member states.
Last year, ATI gained 17 million U.S. dollars in gross underwriting profit, she said. Enditem