(Zawaya, Dubai, 25 February 2025) Italy’s export credit agency, SACE, has committed $350 million in financial and insurance support to UAE companies AMEA Power and Metito Utilities. The funds will support renewable energy, water infrastructure, and sustainability projects in Africa. This initiative aligns with Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa and aims to boost Italian exports in the region.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Algeria aims to become key player in trade insurance in Africa and Arab-Muslim world
(Trade World News, Dubai, 12 December 2024) Algeria is positioning itself as a major force in trade insurance across Africa and the Arab-Muslim world, reflecting its commitment to fostering fair and dynamic international trade. Algeria’s ambitions align with its broader strategy to diversify exports beyond hydrocarbons. The Finance Minister underscored that Algeria views fair international trade as a strategic pillar for economic growth and an essential mechanism for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Meanwhile, a December 11-12 French summit conference on the future of economic relations between France and Arabic countries was jointly organized by the Arab-French Chamber of Commerce, the Union of Arab Chambers and the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME), with the support of CCI France, the International Chamber of Commerce – France, Medef International, and Business France.
UAE’s ALTÉRRA invests in fund backing fossil gas despite “climate solutions” pledge
(Climate Change News, Broadstairs UK, 27 July 2024) As world leaders gathered in Dubai at the start of COP28 last December, the United Arab Emirates dropped a surprise headline-grabbing announcement. The host nation of the UN talks promised to put $30 billion into a new climate fund aimed at speeding up the energy transition and building climate resilience, especially in the Global South. ALTÉRRA was billed as the world’s largest private investment vehicle to “focus entirely on climate solutions”. COP28 President Sultan Al-Jaber hailed its launch as “a defining moment” for creating a new era of international climate finance. Yet four months later, one of the initial funds ALTÉRRA backed with a $300-million commitment agreed to buy a major fossil gas pipeline in North America, Climate Home has discovered. Climate Home’s findings “confirm our worst fears”. “The ALTÉRRA fund uses a masquerade of green progress while funnelling investment into fossil fuel pipelines and gas projects, which are the biggest causes of the climate crisis,”
Etihad Credit Insurance records 21-fold growth
(24-7 Press Release, Seattle, 23 May 2024) Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company, unveiled its growth trajectory in its annual report for 2023. With a gross exposure of AED 9.6 billion (US$2.61 billion), ECI experienced a 21-fold increase compared to 2019. ECI’s supported UAE exporters across 17 sectors in 110 countries, amounting to a non-oil trade and investment of AED 14 billion in 2023. This was facilitated by 21 agreements with government export credit agencies.
UAE pledges $4.5bn for Africa clean energy projects
(Argus Media, Nairobi, 5 September 2023) The UAE will provide $4.5bn in finance to accelerate the development of clean energy projects in Africa, UN climate summit Cop 28 president-designate Sultan al-Jaber said today at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi. Abu Dhabi’s state-owned renewables firm Masdar, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Etihad Credit Insurance, the country’s export credit agency and Amea Power — a Dubai-based renewable-energy company — will provide the funds, al-Jaber said. Africa development bank’s Africa50 investment platform will act as a strategic partner to help identify initial projects. The pledge aims to “catalyse at least an additional $12.5bn from multilateral, public and private sources,” al-Jaber said. “This initiative will target countries with clear transition plans, robust regulatory frameworks and a real commitment to putting the necessary grid infrastructure in place,” he added. Africa’s annual climate finance needs amount to $250bn, according to the African Development Bank, but the continent only receives 12pc of the total, and less than 2pc is going to adaptation, according to al-Jaber.
Saudi and Italian ECAs sign MoU to enhance trade cooperation
(Arabian Business, Abu Dhabi, 27 January 2023) The agreement envisages establishing a framework for mutual reinsurance to enhance the presence of Saudi exports in Italian markets. Saudi Export-Import Bank CEO Saad bin Abdul Aziz Alkhalb hailed the agreement as a step forward in the bank’s efforts to improve and diversify Saudi non-oil exports and enhance their competitiveness, in addition to providing funding for Saudi exports and insurance services and export credit insurance with competitive advantages in line with the targets of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to increase the value of non-oil exports from 16 percent to 50 percent of the non-oil GDP.
UAE ECA Etihad extends guarantees worth $4.5bn in first 9 months of 2022
(National News, Abu Dhabi, 14 November 2022) Etihad Credit Insurance, the UAE’s export credit agency, issued 7,936 revolving credit guarantees worth Dh16.6 billion ($4.5bn) in the first nine months of the year to help boost the country’s non-oil foreign trade. ECI-issued credit guarantees from January until September helped facilitate non-oil trade for businesses located in the UAE that have exported to 111 countries, ECI said in a statement on Monday. These state-backed guarantees helped to preserve and create 50,000 jobs by supporting companies, 72% of which were small and medium enterprises, ECI said.
Etihad Credit to play a role in UAE’s move away from oil
(Gulf Today, Dubai, 15 May 2022) Massimo Falcioni, CEO of Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the official export support agency of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), welcomed Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s election as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and his role in steering the UAE economy towards independence from oil. In this process, Greek and Turkish ECAs have recently signed cooperation agreements with Etihad Credit. Greece, keen to attract investment from the UAE, has agreed to create a €4 billion ($4.22bn) initiative to invest in the Greek economy during a visit by Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Abu Dhabi on May 9th. Last year, the countries’ official export credit agencies signed an agreement to boost bilateral trade. In 2020, the two states inked a foreign policy and defense cooperation deal. A cooperation agreement has also been signed between Türk Eximbank and ECI The signing of the deal occurred amid the 2022 spring meeting in Istanbul of the International Association of Export Credits and Investment Insurers, also known as Berne Union, of which Türk Eximbank became a member in 1994. The said agreement aims to provide co-financing for projects involved in the export of goods and services in both countries, as well as sharing information between institutions.
