(IFC, Washington, 28 May 2024) The World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) today signed three-year cooperation agreements with Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), the official export credit agency of Japan, to promote foreign direct investment in developing countries. The agreements underscore the organizations’ shared commitment to expanding investment opportunities and mitigating risks in developing countries. The cooperation between MIGA and NEXI builds on a 2020 agreement aimed at facilitating Japanese investment in developing countries through co-insurance and reinsurance instruments.
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No role for export credits in the EU’s development finance
(Counter Balance, Brussels, 13 March 2024) The latest report from Counter Balance titled “No role for export credits in the EU’s development finance” sheds light on the growing presence of Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) in the financing landscape of various EU policy proposals, ranging from development finance to critical raw materials. The report examines recent proposals for greater coordination between export credit and development finance, in particular through initiatives such as the EU’s Global Gateway strategy. It highlights significant concerns about suitability of such coordination for development objectives, particularly in the absence of binding human rights and environmental standards, ands weak rules on transparency, due diligence and accountability of ECAs as well as Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). Alexandra Gerasimcikova, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Counter Balance, said: “This is another example of the EU’s misuse of public development finance to support the European private sector , continuing a well-trodden neo-colonial path in its global South relations. This approach encourages asymmetrical dependencies, where the only concern is to open up new markets for European capital. We need long-term, sustainable financing to support equitable socio-economic transformation globally, not profits of European corporations. ”
Africa’s debt dilemma: The role of ECAs and new strategies
(Trade Finance Global, London, 15 February 2024) The African economy has suffered three major shocks in quick succession, namely, the COVID-19 pandemic, spillovers from geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions. This, coupled with widening fiscal deficits, exchange rate volatility and natural disasters have eroded the fiscal space of African economies and increased debt levels. The rising debt in Africa and the high risk of sovereign default hampers the activities of export credit agencies (ECAs) on the continent. However, this challenge has also presented opportunities for flexibility, for example, cover for down payments, higher percentages of cover for both political and commercial risks, as well as longer tenors. The continent facing debt issues, continues to be a major playing field for Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC SA), with Ghana accounting for 51.4% of total exposure, followed by Zimbabwe and Ethiopia at 23.0% and 7.7%, respectively. From an industry viewpoint, the ECIC portfolio has shifted away from its traditional mining focus. Currently, power generation leads as the top sector, accounting for 45.8% of total exposure, with construction following closely at 40%.
H2 Green Steel Boden: Complex financing includes Euler Hermes
(TXF News, London, 23 January) H2 Green Steel (H2GS) – the world’s second green hydrogen mega project – has taken a similar approach to Neom for its hydrogen-powered steel manufacturing project in Boden, Sweden. The simple math – 1% overall cost increase for 40% emissions decrease on the final manufactured product – has enabled H2GS to get a long list of very solid credits signed up to term sheets or steel supply agreements. The multi-sourced debt facilities backing the €6 billion-plus project was signed on 21 December 2023 and are expected to reach financial close in Q1. The overall financing for H2GS comprises €4.15 billion of senior and junior debt… and debt facilities for the project comprised of two €1.2 billion 12.75-year tranches with 95% and 80% cover provided by Euler Hermes and Riksgalden (Swedish National debt Office) respectively, a €200 million 12.75-year direct loan from the EIB, a €250 million 12.75-year term loan, a €300 million 12.75-year revolving credit and a €400 million 12.75-year contingency tranche.
How to Deal with Sinosure as an Importer
(Global Trading Magazine, Dallas, 8 January 2024) An in-depth guide on handling the Sinosure export credit insurance services and getting deferred payments for your imports from Chinese suppliers. Payment terms in contracts with Chinese suppliers can require as much as 30% of the total up front as a hedge against the importer’s nonpayment, also known as its credit risk. The remainder of the payment is usually due before the Chinese exporter ships the goods. Sinosure, the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, is an official financial institution designed to help in cases like that. It provides export credit insurance to companies in China seeking to do business with foreign buyers without having to bear the risk of nonpayment. While Sinosure’s clients are the exporting Chinese companies, its business benefits importers outside of China by eliminating cash flow issues and extended delivery times. With this insurance safeguard, suppliers are more willing to extend deferred payment terms and trade turnover with their foreign partners, to the mutual benefit of both parties. In the year 2022, Sinosure ensured export credit worth more than $700 billion for approximately 240,000 Chinese exporters. This compares with only $2.61 billion insured that year by US Exim. Sinosure insures so much more because it is a key part of the country’s export drive, and it maintains a large sales and customer service network throughout China, whereas US Exim generally focuses on a few large-scale industries like airplanes, power generation, and infrastructure.
Trade credit insurance reaches just 13% of insured shipments
Global Trade Review, London, 22 November 2023) Premiums for trade credit insurance hit US$13.9bn in 2022, a small proportion [0.19%] of the US$7tn in insured shipments where trade credit insurance could have been used, the International Credit Insurance and Surety Association (ICISA) says. Only 13.2% of covered shipments worldwide were protected by trade credit insurance, with the private sector providing more than two-thirds of the cover [vs one-third from official OECD ECAs which supposedly monitor the environmental and ethical elements of international trade?], ICISA says. It estimates world trade to have totalled US$100.6tn last year. In a report released last month, global reinsurer Swiss Re says it expects trade credit insurance premiums to grow to US$14.8bn in 2024 [i.e. .015% of the value of goods traded] despite a slowdown in global trade, which it puts down to rate increases.
Russian export credit claims soar
(Global Trade Review, London, 7 September 2023) The export credit insurance market saw claims jump by more than 700% in Russia last year, as the industry grappled with the fallout of the Ukraine crisis and western sanctions, Berne Union research shows. Short-term export credit claims involving obligors in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region increased by US$229mn from a year earlier, the union’s State of the Industry report for 2022 finds. Payouts in Europe also rose by US$118mn year-on-year as businesses felt the indirect impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion, which disrupted supply chains for critical inputs and drove up commodities prices. The data reveals how export credit agencies (ECAs) and trade credit insurers were stung by the Ukraine war, despite efforts to swiftly cut cover for Russian firms in the early weeks of the crisis due to financial and reputational risks. The analysis by the Berne Union, a global association representing ECAs and private insurers, shows new short-term export credit business in Russia and CIS fell from US$34bn to US$16bn – by more than 70% – as insurers pulled back. Arrears – or overdue payments by borrowers in the medium to long-term segment – rose by 11% or nearly US$8bn. On a brighter note for the industry, overall claims paid out by ECAs and insurers on their policies fell to US$7.7bn – a decline of about US$1bn – following a 33% drop in claims in the transportation sector, the data shows.
Spillover effects of the Ukraine crisis: political risk insurance in times of brinkmanship
(Berne Union, London, 7 September 2023) A Berne Union report investigates how political risk insurance can be approached amid the ongoing effects of the pandemic, geopolitics and the evolving Russia/Ukraine crisis. The search for new, diversified suppliers of strategic materials to support the energy and technological transition may result in fresh investment flows for countries with both limited stability and little capacity in order to handle the amount of investment and operations required. Apart from China and Russia, several of the sovereigns that are likely to emerge as incremental suppliers were rated B or lower, even before the current crisis, and/or possess a country risk category that could make the cost of financing excessive or further complicate their fiscal position in the short- to medium-term.
World’s largest car theft and the Swedish ECA
(The Times of India, Delhi, 9 November 2023) According to the Swedish Export Credit Agency, the interest and unpaid penalties on 1,000 Volvo cars, have racked up a breathtaking USD 322 million still owed. The 1974 order for the batch of 1000 Volvo 144 sedans to be used as taxis was given by Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung. Later, the Swedish government paid Volvo in full from public funds but is still waiting to retrieve the money from North Korea. The batch of vehicles, a significant component of a 1974 agreement, is now at the centre of what is considered to be the ‘biggest car heist’ in history.
Saudi Arabia Courts African Leaders to keep the world hooked on oil
(Foreign Policy, Washington, 15 November 2023) Riyadh hosted African leaders last Friday at the first Saudi-Africa summit on fostering trade ties. Among other measures, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman proposed $10 billion to finance and insure Saudi exports through 2030 and an additional $5 billion in development financing for African nations. A New York Times article on Saudi efforts notes that the kingdom is working to keep fossil fuels at the center of the world economy for decades to come by lobbying, funding research and using its diplomatic muscle to obstruct climate action. The Arab Africa Trade Bridges Program, a multi-donor, inter-regional program, has signed two agreements aimed at fostering sustainable growth and development on the sidelines of the Intra Africa Trade Fair 2023 in Cairo with support from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. In addition, Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa, UBA, Plc, and the Saudi Export-Import Bank, Saudi EXIM have entered into a partnership aimed at strengthening business growth and enhancing economic cooperation between their economies.
