The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is accelerating efforts to promote factoring, an innovative supply chain financing tool that allows Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to sell unpaid invoices and gain immediate access to working capital, across the African continent.
At the recently concluded Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 (IATF2025) in Algiers, the Bank hosted a Factoring Exposition and Workshop in partnership with FCI, the global association for factoring and receivables finance. The event, held under the auspices of the Bank of Algeria, attracted about 100 participants from across Africa under the theme “Empowering SMEs through Factoring: Unlocking Growth and Financial Optimisation.”
Addressing participants, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank, urged African financial institutions and policymakers to commit to building awareness, strengthening legal frameworks, expanding trade credit insurance, and scaling technical expertise in factoring.
She noted that Africa’s SMEs continue to face a US$300 billion financing gap, with more than 51 per cent unable to access sufficient growth capital from commercial banks. “Without urgent solutions, the 12–15 million young Africans entering our labour markets each year will confront limited opportunity. This is why Afreximbank, about two decades ago, took up the mantle to support SME financing via factoring,” Mrs. Awani said.
According to Afreximbank data, factoring volumes in Africa more than doubled from €21.6 billion in 2017 to €50 billion in 2024, while the number of factoring firms expanded to nearly 200 across multiple countries.
Speaking at the event, Neal Harm, Secretary General of FCI, underscored the organization’s commitment to connecting global factoring stakeholders and promoting a conducive regulatory and educational ecosystem for the sector. He emphasized that SMEs, which represent about 80 % of all formal enterprises in Africa, often struggle with limited access to working capital.
“This is where factoring makes such a difference. By converting receivables into immediate cash, it provides SMEs with liquidity when they need it most. It reduces the burden of collateral requirements, and it enables businesses to strengthen relationships with buyers and suppliers,” Harm said.
Mr. Abdelhamid Boualouadnine, Director General of Credit and Banking Regulation at the Bank of Algeria, welcomed the initiative, describing the workshop as “an important platform to share experiences and highlight Afreximbank’s vision to contribute to building the African continent.”
As a follow-up, Afreximbank and FCI committed to organising technical training and capacity-building programmes for the Bank of Algeria and other key stakeholders. The initiative will focus on regulatory guidance, financing mechanisms for factoring companies, and equipping them with global best practices and operational toolkits.
The Bank’s sustained investment in factoring aims to enhance SME competitiveness, drive industrialisation, and unlock new growth opportunities across Africa’s expanding intra-regional trade network.
