The BCEAO, AFREXIMBANK and FCI (Factors Chain International) organized a regional conference on factoring, receivables financing and credit insurance on June 7 to 9, 2023, at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dakar, Senegal.

The third of its kind, the conference was held as part of the collaboration launched between the three institutions in 2021, following the adoption of a uniform act on factoring by the WAMU Council of Ministers in December 2020. The regional conference was attended by close to one hundred and fifty participants from Africa and Europe.

The purpose of the event was to provide factoring companies, banks, non-bank financial institutions and businesses with an opportunity to access specialist service providers and build their capacity in factoring, receivables financing and credit insurance, as well as networking.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Abdoulaye Seck, Secretary General of the BCEAO. It was marked by introductory messages from Kanayo Awani, Vice-President of AFREXIMBANK, and Peter Mulroy, Secretary General of FCI.

In his opening remarks, the BCEAO’s Secretary General stressed the importance the Central Bank ascribes to the promotion of factoring as a financing instrument for SMEs and recalled that the BCEAO had taken the initiative of proposing a uniform act on factoring activities in the WAMU Union, as well as a model factoring contract for regulated entities. He noted that these initiatives had contributed to an increase in financing through factoring. However, he added that there remained considerable room for Improvement and called for continued efforts. Accordingly, he urged the conference participants to discuss the challenges of developing factoring in West Africa and share their own experiences.

Ms. Awani and Mr. Mulroy, for their part, pointed out that Africa offered strong potential for the development of factoring as a lever for SME financing, with a view to further promoting intra-African trade. They also praised the BCEAO’s leadership in promoting factoring. Mr. Mulroy expressed his satisfaction with the resilience of the factoring industry, which had held up well despite cyclical crises and bank failures, notably linked to the COVID-19 crisis.

Discussions focused in particular on the following points:

• the factoring industry worldwide, and its opportunities and challenges in West Africa ;
• the different forms of factoring and their underlying mechanisms ;
• the uniform law adopted in WAMU and the model law developed by AFREXIMBANK,
• key success factors in setting up a factoring business ;
• credit insurance and its leverage effect on factoring, and
• the use of information technology in the credit insurance industry.

In addition, four panels were organized, featuring practitioners from banks and credit insurance companies such as COFACE and SONAC. The panels covered the following themes:

• Opportunities and challenges facing the receivables financing and factoring industries in West Africa ;
• Factoring, an essential tool for providing liquidity and financing for SMEs ;
• Credit insurance and factoring: a necessary tool for the development of factoring in Africa ;
• Credit insurance: limitations and prospects in Africa.

The concluding remarks of the conference were delivered by Enga Kameni, Head of AFREXIMBANK's Legal Department. He stressed the importance of factoring for SMEs, as a flexible alternative financing solution that improves cashflow management. In conclusion, Dr. Kameni thanked FCI and the BCEAO for their many years of efforts to promote factoring in the zone.