United Bank for Africa (UBA) has partnered with the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) to better enable regional and international trade amongst its clients.

The agreement will see ATI provide political risk and trade credit insurance cover for eligible UBA transactions, which UBA hopes will further boost Africa’s economic growth by providing trade finance for SMEs.

“UBA’s partnership with ATI will ease the flow of credit to our customers and help them expand their businesses across the African continent,” says deputy managing director and CEO of UBA, Kennedy Uzoka.

UBA reports that trade between African countries represents just 10% of total trade conducted in Africa. CEO of the ATI, George Otieno, hopes that by partnering with banks like UBA, the agency can encourage more cross-border trade.

“Banks continue to be a vital aspect of ATI’s business strategy as we help companies access credit and to positively impact the region’s economic development,” he says.