The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and FCI, the global body for factoring and receivables finance, will jointly host a two-day regional conference in Kampala, Uganda on 15 and 16 April 2026, bringing together senior figures from banking, insurance, regulation, and government to deepen the case for alternative trade financing across Africa.
The conference will run under the theme “Beyond Traditional Lending: The Continued Rise of Factoring and Supply Chain Finance in Africa,” and is co-supported by FCI Academy and the International Credit Insurance and Surety Association (ICISA). Agenda topics will span legal and regulatory frameworks, digitalisation, credit insurance, and the practical steps involved in building scalable receivables finance operations.
The event is the latest in a series of regional gatherings by the two institutions designed to close a structural gap in how African businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), access working capital. Afreximbank data shows that while Africa’s factoring volumes more than doubled between 2017 and 2024, reaching €50 billion, the continent still accounts for less than one percent of global factoring activity. The bank has argued that Africa needs to reach at least €240 billion in factoring volumes to meaningfully support SME-led growth.
Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank, said the Kampala conference was about ensuring financial architecture keeps pace with trade ambitions. “Factoring is not just an alternative, it is a necessity for African businesses that need immediate liquidity to remain competitive,” she said, adding that the goal was to ensure legal and financial frameworks can convert receivables into the working capital that drives the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) engine.
Betül Kurtuluş, Deputy Secretary General of FCI, noted that awareness alone was insufficient. “This conference reflects that shared commitment and provides a valuable opportunity to explore how these solutions can continue to evolve across the region,” she said.
The Kampala gathering follows similar regional conferences held in Zimbabwe in 2024 and West Africa in prior years, each aimed at advancing factoring adoption in a continent where the vast majority of SMEs still rely on conventional bank lending as their primary source of financing.
