Africa’s leading trade risk insurer is seeking to raise US$500 million in fresh capital to help countries cope with surging import costs linked to the Middle East conflict, its chief executive said Wednesday.
The African Trade & Investment Development Insurance is in discussions with international partners as global finance leaders gather in Washington for the World Bank Spring Meetings.
Chief executive Manuel Moses said the funding push had become more urgent following the escalation of hostilities involving Iran, which has disrupted trade flows and driven up the price of energy and other key commodities.
“Africa is feeling the ripple effects through higher import bills, especially for fuel,” Moses told AFP in an interview. “Demand for our support is rising faster than our current capital can accommodate.”
ATIDI — a multilateral insurer that provides guarantees and political risk cover to facilitate trade and investment — had already been considering a capital increase from its current base of close to $1 billion. But the latest geopolitical tensions have accelerated those plans.
The conflict, triggered by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, has added fresh pressure on global supply chains, pushing inflation risks higher and complicating recovery efforts for many African economies.
Several countries on the continent, many of which rely heavily on imported fuel and food, are now seeking to expand their trade finance coverage to manage rising costs.
According to Moses, member states are requesting increases in their trade finance limits of around 20 percent on average, reflecting the scale of the shock.
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“This is not just about one country — it’s a continent-wide demand response,” he said. “We are seeing requests across multiple markets.”
The insurer’s role is particularly critical during periods of volatility, as it helps de-risk transactions and unlock financing that might otherwise be unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
But Moses warned that without additional capital, ATIDI’s ability to respond could be constrained.
“Our balance sheet is under pressure,” he said. “We need to scale up in order to continue supporting our members effectively.”
In parallel with the $500 million capital raise, ATIDI is also proposing the creation of a separate $1 billion contingency facility aimed at responding more rapidly to future crises.
Such a mechanism would allow the institution to deploy support quickly in the event of external shocks — whether geopolitical conflicts, commodity price spikes, or financial market disruptions — without waiting for lengthy fundraising processes.
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“The current situation highlights the need for a more agile response framework,” Moses said. “We cannot afford to build capacity only after a crisis hits.”
The call for additional resources comes at a time when traditional sources of development finance are under strain.
Western countries, including the United States, have scaled back parts of their development assistance, increasing reliance on institutions like ATIDI to fill the gap.
Moses said discussions with donors were ongoing but declined to name specific countries or institutions involved.
Existing supporters of ATIDI include Britain, India, Italy and Japan, among others.
He stressed that any recapitalisation effort should be part of a broader, coordinated response by international financial institutions to the global economic impact of the Middle East conflict.
“This is not something one institution can handle alone,” he said. “It requires a system-wide approach.”
ATIDI’s model allows it to leverage its capital base to generate significantly larger volumes of trade and investment.
According to the insurer, each dollar of capital can support roughly ten dollars in transactions. Since its establishment, it has facilitated around $93 billion in trade and investment flows across Africa.
For many countries facing tightening financial conditions and rising external vulnerabilities, such support is becoming increasingly vital.
“As shocks become more frequent and more complex, institutions like ours will play an even bigger role,” Moses said. “But we need the resources to match that responsibility.”
