Afreximbank signed a partnership with IBDL Learning Group in Cairo this week to expand trade skills training and close gaps officials say could blunt Africa’s free trade agreement.
Stephen Kauma, Afreximbank’s managing director for human resources, and Khaled Khallaf, chief executive of IBDL, signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on July 10 at the bank’s Cairo headquarters. The programme will run through Afreximbank Academy (AFRACAD), the bank’s training arm, and target professionals, entrepreneurs, businesses and public institutions working in trade and industrial development.
Under the deal, AFRACAD and IBDL will build joint certification programmes covering intra-African trade, industrialization and trade intelligence, alongside boot camps on supply chain management and e-commerce delivered with corporate partners. The two will also expand an African diplomacy certification that first launched in 2024 and add new trade and economic masterclasses aimed at non-African diplomats.
This is not Afreximbank’s first attempt at closing the same gap. AFRACAD launched in October 2022 as the bank’s proprietary academy, and in June it ran a third AfCFTA specific training programme in Cairo with the American University in Cairo and the AfCFTA Secretariat. Organizers of that programme said limited understanding of the trade pact’s technical provisions has slowed its adoption among businesses, the same constraint the IBDL partnership now targets through standing certifications rather than one off workshops.
IBDL brings an international angle to the arrangement. Founded in 2014, the group focuses on international business education and will help AFRACAD pursue full accreditation from Missouri State University as part of the deal. Selected IBDL courses will also be added to AFRACAD’s online learning platform, and the two organizations plan joint marketing to widen access to the material.
“This partnership represents a tangible investment in the continent’s future trade leaders,” Kauma said, describing skills development as a critical enabler of Africa’s economic transformation. Khallaf said IBDL’s role reflects a shared commitment to building the practical capabilities African professionals need to make use of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create the world’s largest free trade area by number of participating countries.
