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This article was produced with the support of ATIDI
Backed by 24 member states and 13 institutional investors, including the African Development Bank and Africa Re, as well as international shareholders such as SACE, the Japanese export credit agency NEXI and India’s export credit agency ECGC among others, ATIDI provides risk mitigation for debt and equity investments as well as trade transactions across Africa.
For the past 25 years ATIDI – legally the African Trade and Insurance Agency – had played a pivotal role in supporting trade and investment across the continent, standing as a pillar of confidence for investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers alike, ATIDI chairman Professor Kelly Mua Kingsly told delegates. “We are more than just an insurer. We are a trusted partner in Africa’s development journey, a catalyst that connects perception with potential and risk with opportunity.”
By December 2024 it had a capital base of $791.5m, a 13% increase on the previous year, with ambitions to reach a billion-dollar capital base in the next three years. The organisation supported $8.9bn of trade and investment last year across the continent, against a backdrop of $1bn net exposure.
Kingsly highlighted the importance of ATIDI’s preferred creditor status (PCS), which ensures ATIDI gets repaid before other creditors, in changing the continent’s risk profile. This enables member states to raise cheaper capital and provide political risk insurance to grease the wheels of trade.
For over a decade ATIDI has maintained an “A” rating for financial strength and counterparty credit by Standard & Poor›s. In 2019 it obtained a second A3/stable rating from Moody›s, which was later revised to A2/stable in 2024.
Managing risk
Angola’s minister of finance, Vera Esperança Dos Santos Daves De Sousa, highlighted the PCS as a unique strength for ATIDI, reinforcing its ability to operate with conference and efficiency across member states and enhancing investor trust. “It must be emphasised that adherence to the obligations underpinning the PCS is not optional; they are fundamental to the continued credibility and operational effectiveness of ATIDI. Any failure to honour this commitment risks undermining investor confidence. As such, I urge all member states to continue upholding this principle with the seriousness and responsibility it demands,” she stressed.
She also highlighted that success is based on the understanding and management of risk. “We must acknowledge that risk is not something to be avoided, but rather something to be understood, shared and managed wisely.
“This requires a strong ecosystem of institutions, like ATIDI, that can provide the financial tools and risk mitigation instruments necessary to unlock private capital, support infrastructure development and enable sustainable investment.
“As policymakers, we understand that finance is the lifeblood of development, yet we must also recognize a critical truth: finance will not flow where risk is misunderstood, unmanaged or unmitigated,” she said.
Manuel Moses, CEO of ATIDI, said the PCShelps the institution to safeguard its investment-grade credit ratings and to access capital markets on competitive terms. It is a critical pillar of its derisking model.
“ATIDI is expected to step in when others step back, especially during periods of economic distress. PCS helps safeguard our investment-grade credit ratings. This in turn allows us to access capital markets on competitive terms. PCS is key to securing reinsurance capacity from global markets, with more than 85% of our gross exposure reinsured. In short, it ensures the long-term sustainability of our institution.”
Building resilience
Moses added that in 2024the development finance institution (DFI) had continued to build resilience across its operations. Insurance revenue had risen modestly, reaching $158.9m while investment income surged by 45% to $29.8m. “This was a clear indicator of our disciplined asset management in volatile markets.”
Moses also flagged ATIDI’s portfolio risk-sharing arrangement (PoRSA) small and medium enterprise (SME) programme, which provides credit risk insurance to participating lenders, encouraging them to extend financing to SMEs, particularly in under-served sectors such as women-owned business, agriculture and cross-border trade.
ATIDI is also supporting regional integration and cross-border trade through the Regional Customs Transport Guarantee Scheme (RCTG). This aims to simplify the transit process by using a single guarantee for goods moving through African borders, with the support of risk-mitigation guarantees jointly structured by ATIDI, Africa-Re, Afreximbank, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and its reinsurer ZEP-RE.
Chairman Kingsly reflected on the 25-year history of the institution. “In the year 2000, ATIDI was born from a bold and visionary idea: that by working together, African countries could overcome the barriers of risk that had long deterred trade and investment.
“It was a belief in regional solidarity, shared prosperity and the power of partnership.” He said ATIDI had grown into one of the continent’s leading DFIs, supporting over $88bn in trade and investment flows across Africa, maintaining strong credit ratings and steadily expanding its membership.
During its 25 years, it has supported more than $88bn in trade and investment across the continent. “We are more than just an insurer. We are a trusted partner in Africa’s development journey, a catalyst that connects perception with potential and risk with opportunity.”
“ATIDI’s work is a testament to what is possible when African institutions are built with purpose, backed by expertise and trusted by stakeholders. As leaders, we must continue to strengthen such institutions and ensure that risk is not a barrier to development, but a catalyst for smarter, more resilient investment.
The milestone was not just a time of celebration but a moment of reflection at a time of global uncertainty. “The path ahead will demand agility, bold thinking and unity of purpose.”
Investment and capital
The AGM, held under the theme “Turning Risk into Opportunity: Securing a Sustainable Future”, included two investment roundtables, enabling discussion on the need for innovation in terms of managing risk and credit ratings, as well as raising and reducing the costs of capital, among other issues.
Participating organisations included the African Finance Corporation (AFC), Bank of Industry in Nigeria, Crown Agents Bank, Pangea-Risk, Lazard, Rand Merchant Bank, S&P Global, Angolan Capital Market Commission and the African Union Commission.
One of the issues under discussion, for example, was the value of insurance wraps to leverage cheaper finance. The AFC shared its experience of enabling cheaper finance for Nigeria’s Bank of Industry, a sub-sovereign, and the government of Egypt to raise finance at competitive rates in new markets, in this case through a samurai bond, using its higher credit rating to wrap the sovereign risk of both countries.
Managing risk proactively was also under the spotlight, with access to reliable data and improvements in governance identified as issues affecting the rating of countries, despite general agreement that capital was mispriced relative to actual risk.
In Angola, a member since 2023, ATIDI has provided over $1.5bn in risk coverage across key sectors including water, energy, construction and gas.
Together with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development at the World Bank, and later BPI France, ATIDI secured financing of $1.1bn for the Bita Water Project, which will supply potable water to southern Luanda from the Kwanza River. This financing had a longer tenor and was priced at more than 500 basis points lower than the yield the country was paying at the time on international markets.
ATIDI, through its intervention, has also helped raise $200m to cover the rehabilitation of the national road project. The AGM and investor roundtable was attended by country and institutional shareholders as well as many players in the insurance and re-insurance ecosystem.
