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Chuks Udo Okonta
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has launched the Afreximbank Academy (AFRACAD), a learning, knowledge, and networking hub designed to help advance African trade through capacity building and leadership.
AFRACAD was launched on 3 October 2022 in Kampala, Uganda, on the sidelines of the three-day Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar by Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank and Mr. Moses Kaggwa, Ag. Director Economic Affairs, representing Mr. Matia Kasaija, Ugandan Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Stephen Kauma, Director & Global Head, Human Resources at Afreximbank, said at the launch ceremony that the establishment of the Academy fulfills the capacity building dimension of the Bank’s mandate.
“Afreximbank has been at the forefront of building the capacity of Africans on the continent and the diaspora in trade related matters. In this regard, under the Bank’s 5th Strategic Plan for the period 2016 to 2021, we planned to create a responsibility centre under which all our various capacity building initiatives would be housed,” Mr. Kauma explained.
He also revealed that the academy, which plans to train up to 100,000 people over the next ten years, offering up to 58 different learning opportunities, aims to unlock business opportunities by enhancing existing capacity and leadership, improving the trade environment across Africa and enabling the continent to compete globally.
The Afreximbank Academy, the Bank’s proprietary corporate academy, is a centre of excellence for capacity building in trade and the go-to hub for Afrocentric knowledge and African trade expertise. AFRACAD provides high impact learning solutions that cover trade and project finance; industrial capacity; innovation; leadership; trade language; and Knowledge and networking.
So far, AFRACAD has already begun the process of obtaining regional accreditation, starting with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), while exploring and reaching out to other accrediting bodies. The Academy has also started implementing a proof of concept using the Certificate of Trade Finance in Africa (COFTIA) programme, a flagship trade finance course that is one of the most comprehensive in Africa, which AFRACAD runs with FCI and the American University in Cairo.
As part of the celebration to launch the academy, AFRACAD offered a scholarship for one person to each institution participating in the 2022 Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar, covering 50 percent of the tuition fees for the 2023 course for the Certificate of Trade Finance in Africa.
The official launch of the Afreximbank Academy was also attended by Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank; Dr Michael Atingi-Ego, Deputy Governor, Bank of Uganda; Ms. Sarah Arapta, Chairperson, Uganda Bankers’ Association and CEO Citibank Uganda; Senior Officials of the Ugandan Government; as well as Directors and staff members of Afreximbank.
