Local banks' failure to fully embrace trade financing is hindering growth of Kenya, regional exports to international markets, experts now say. “Trade finance is a pain to people seeking opportunities,” Export Promotion Council chairman Jaswinder Bedi said, during the launch of the 'Trade Finance Landscape Report' covering East Africa and the Horn of Africa. According to the report by TradeMark East Africa and FSD Africa, costly loans are also making the regions uncompetitive, where 90 per cent of trade is financed by foreign banks. Low funding for SMEs is also hindering growth of trade, African Development Bank (AfDB) has noted. “We need to find ways of how we can do away with collateral,” AfDB head of trade finance,Lamin Drammeh, said.

Source: The Star May 05, 2021 00:56 UTC