A high-level strategic meeting was held today between the Africa Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) and Chad’s Agence pour l’Administration des Zones Économiques Spéciales (AAZES). The meeting, facilitated by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), opened up promising prospects for technical collaboration and cooperation between the two institutions, as Chad prepares to become a member of ATI.
ATI, a pan-African institution created in 2001 with the support of the World Bank, provides insurance against political and commercial risks to attract foreign direct investment to the region. With 21 member countries to date and over $7 billion in coverage issued since its creation, ATI plays a key role in supporting investment in Africa.
During the meeting, ATI Managing Director Manuel Moses discussed with AAZES Managing Director Ousmane Djougourou and Deputy Managing Director Nicole Ndoubayo the history, objectives and operational capacity challenges facing AAZES. As a young agency, AAZES needs the support of partners for its institutional development, capacity building and resource mobilization.
In this context, ATI could support AAZES by strengthening its capacities, in order to prepare the latter to become one of its main national partners in the financing of industry in Chad and the development of trade. Thanks to its investment insurance, trade credit, bonding and reinsurance products, ATI could facilitate access to regional and international markets for Chadian companies.
The meeting identified concrete areas of potential collaboration between ATI and AAZES, notably in the fields of training, information sharing, product development tailored to Chad’s specific needs, and joint promotion of business opportunities in ZES. The two parties agreed to continue the dialogue and establish a formal framework for cooperation in the coming months.
This strategic meeting between ATI and AAZES is an important step for Chad in its ambition to promote the country’s economic development and attract investment. Cooperation between the two institutions will strengthen AAZES’s capabilities and open up new opportunities for Chadian companies on regional and international markets.
