Afreximbank announces opening of 2021 Certificate of Finance in International Trade Programme

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the FCI, Quarterback and University of Malta announces the opening of registration for the 2021 cohort of the Certificate of Finance in International Trade (COFIT 2021) programme.

The programme, now in its sixth year, is open to banking and trade finance professionals from across Africa and runs over a period of 12 months with a total of four modules of one week each. Each module runs once a quarter, equating to one week every quarter.

The programme aims to equip banking professionals within the trade finance space with the required skills and tools to improve their expertise in the area of International Trade Finance. The course has been carefully curated to meet the demands of the commercial world and enhance participants’ understanding of all aspects of international trade, import and export business, finance of international trade, supply chain finance and commercial finance, including factoring, invoice discounting and asset based lending.

Given the exceptional circumstances with the COVID-19 pandemic, the COFIT 2021 programme will run virtually except for the last module – which will be conducted in Cairo, Egypt.
The deadline for applications for COFIT 2021 Programme is 15 March 2021.

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Since 2016, a total of 50 students attended the COFIT Programme, out of which 33 have graduated, 3 are still completing the process for graduation and 14 are currently enrolled in the 2020 Programme which is expected to be completed in April 2021.

Stephen Tio Kauma, Afreximbank’s Director and Global Head for Human Resources, said: “We are delighted to once again open up entries to this invaluable course, which is the product of a longstanding and productive collaboration between Afreximbank, FCI, Quarterback and University of Malta.

We would urge partner organizations to enroll their staff members for COFIT 2021 in order to equip their teams with the indispensable insight, awareness and understanding of international trade which this course is proven to deliver. Such a qualification serves not only to deepen executives’ and managers’ understanding of international trade, but also to accelerate career development and contribute to the formation of future trade finance leaders.”

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.