The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen professional and institutional capacity in trade, insurance, reinsurance, risk management and trade facilitation across Africa.
The partnership is aimed at addressing the skills and institutional capacity needed to support Africa’s expanding trade and investment ecosystem, particularly as cross-border transactions become increasingly complex.
Under the agreement, Afreximbank Academy (AFRACAD) and ZEP-RE Academy will jointly develop and scale learning, research and knowledge programmes that combine Afreximbank’s expertise in African trade and trade finance with ZEP-RE’s experience in insurance, reinsurance and risk management.
The MoU was signed at ZEP-RE’s offices in Nairobi by Stephen Tio Kauma, Group managing director, Human Resources, Afreximbank, and Jephita Gwatipedza, Group deputy chief executive officer and chief operating officer, ZEP-RE.
Kauma said Africa’s ability to expand trade and investment depends not only on financial resources and infrastructure but also on knowledge, skills and institutional capacity across its markets.
‘Africa’s ability to expand trade and investment depends on more than financial resources and infrastructure. It also depends on knowledge, skills and institutional capacity across our markets,’ he said.
He said the partnership would combine complementary expertise in trade finance, insurance, reinsurance and risk management to develop practical and scalable learning and knowledge solutions for professionals and institutions across Africa.
Gwatipedza said sustainable expansion of trade would require institutions that finance and facilitate commerce to understand, price and manage the risks involved.
‘Trade cannot expand sustainably unless the institutions that finance and facilitate it can also understand, price and manage the risks involved,’ he said.
He said the partnership would connect trade finance with insurance and reinsurance expertise and help strengthen institutional capability across African markets.
Under the three-year partnership, AFRACAD and ZEP-RE Academy will collaborate across three strategic areas, beginning with the co-creation of digital learning content, including e-learning courses, toolkits and African case studies.
Through a joint ‘content factory’ approach, the institutions will identify thematic priorities and develop structured and reusable learning resources. The materials will be made available through AFRACAD’s digital learning platform and/or ZEP-RE Academy’s Learning Management System.
The two institutions will also jointly design and deliver professional and executive development programmes covering areas such as risk and reinsurance, trade guarantees, trade facilitation, financial infrastructure and market development.
The programmes may include short courses, executive masterclasses, certification programmes and other structured learning delivered physically, virtually or through blended formats.
The partnership will also support research, knowledge creation and thought leadership through joint studies, webinars, policy dialogues and industry forums involving practitioners, regulators, development partners and private-sector leaders.
The MoU builds on an existing partnership between Afreximbank and ZEP-RE. In 2025, the two institutions launched the Trans-Africa Bond Alliance (TABA) to strengthen insurance capacity, facilitate cross-border trade and support the movement of goods and investment across Africa.
Since beginning operations in June 2025, TABA has supported approximately US$185 million in bonds in 2025 and US$280 million in the first quarter of 2026, with risks originating from 24 cedents across five countries.
TABA supports Afreximbank’s African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme (AACTGS) and the wider AfCFTA trade facilitation agenda by promoting a harmonised, technology-enabled approach to transit guarantees across African borders.
The wider African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme is supported by US$1 billion in guarantee limits, including a US$300 million facility being implemented with ZEP-RE in the COMESA region.
The initiative aims to reduce reliance on multiple national transit bonds, release working capital otherwise tied up as collateral and improve the efficiency and predictability of cross-border trade.
The latest MoU extends the collaboration into capacity building, with the two institutions seeking to strengthen the technical expertise and institutional knowledge required for increasingly sophisticated trade, insurance and risk solutions across African markets.
The partnership is expected to build a stronger pool of African expertise capable of addressing issues at the intersection of trade, finance, insurance and risk, while supporting deeper regional integration and sustainable economic development across the continent. The MoU will initially run for three years and may be renewed by mutual agreement.