By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has bid farewell to Peter Mulroy, the long serving Secretary General of FCI who has piloted the affairs of the global factoring body for the past 11 years, commending him for making Africa a priority by connecting the continent to the global factoring community.

In a farewell message at the recently concluded FCI Executive Committee and Global Factoring Summit organised by FCI and India Exim in Mumbai, India, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice-President, Intra-African Trade Bank at Afreximbank and Chairperson of the FCI Africa Chapter, said that Mr.

Mrs. Awani, who is also a member of the FCI Executive Committee, commended the commitment shown by Mr. Mulroy for the promotion and growth of factoring in Africa through capacity building events and for his support for the establishment of an enabling legal and regulatory environment through advocacy initiatives, particularly towards the adoption of factoring laws and regulation in Egypt, Congo, Togo, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali, among others.

According to her, Mr. Mulroy is leaving a lasting legacy and the impact of his influence in Africa’s factoring landscape will continue to be felt.

Mrs. Awani, who used the opportunity to welcome incoming Secretary General Neal Harm, said that the Afreximbank team looked forward to working with him to further expand FCI’s intervention in Africa by building on the achievements thus far.

Also commending the outgoing Secretary General on his achievements were Çağatay Baydar, Chairman of FCI, and Mr. Harm, the incoming Secretary General, both of who commended Mr. Mulroy for his hard work, dedication and commitment to the association.

In his response, Mr. Mulroy thanked the members of the executive committee for their support and shared memories of his work with Afreximbank in ensuring that factoring gained prominence in Africa as an alternative financial instrument to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

He commended the Bank for playing a central and key role in the milestones achieved in the factoring industry in Africa.

Over the years, key factoring metrics in Africa have been trending upwards, with the number of African members of FCI reaching 46 in 2023, compared to 37 in 2019, and with over US$60 million in factoring lines of credit approved by Afreximbank during the same period and over US$30 million disbursed. These have culminated in Africa’s factoring volume growing from EUR21 billion in 2017 to EUR41 billion in 2022

Afreximbank, together with its strategic partners, have been at the forefront in providing financing, advocacy and support in improving the legal and regulatory environment for factoring to thrive in Africa, creating awareness and strengthening technical capacity while providing various services for factoring companies.

In addition, Afreximbank, in collaboration with FCI, is working to develop a payment repository to directly support the accelerated growth of factoring as an alternative financing tool for SMEs in Africa through increased access to trade credit insurance.The payment repository will provide a platform where trade payables data can be stored and exchanged in order to avail credit insurers with necessary information for offering factors the option to establish insured credit limits on themselves based on payment experience.