Trade Invest Africa and DTI Opening address by ECIC CEO Kutoane Kutoane
The Honorable Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Rob Davies The Director General of the Dti, Mr. Lionel October, Fellow members of the dti fraternity here present Representatives of the South African exporter community and all institutions involved in Africa-wide trade and investment Ladies and gentlemen, I greet you all.
I thank the organizers for having deemed if fit for me to say a few opening words on this important occasion of formal launch of the Trade Invest Africa (TIA) initiative as we map out the way to maximize opportunities from intra-Africa trade and investment.
The ECIC is in the position therefore to share some insights into the prospects and challenges relating to trade and investment landscape across the continent. With a total insurance portfolio of roughly R25 billion, 96% of which is in Sub-Saharan Africa, we proudly consider ourselves the true risk partners to South Africa exporters and investors in the continent.
I represent the ECIC which is a statutory company wholly owned by the South African Government under the auspices of the dti. The mandate of the ECIC is to facilitate South African export of capital goods and services by providing credit insurance solutions against commercial and political risk events in cross-border trading and investment. We have been intimately involved in enabling South African exporters to obtain competitive edge doing business in the rest of Africa through credit insurance offerings over the past 15 years.