African bankers urged to build capacity to withstand global shocks

Ms Gwen Mwaba Managing Director Trade Finance and Correspondent Banking at Afreximbank. [Brian Ngugi, Standard]

African bankers are not insulated from global crises and must build capacity to respond to external shocks, a senior official at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) said on Thursday, pointing to the continent's delayed access to COVID-19 vaccines and HIV therapies as a stark warning.

Gwen Mwaba, Afreximbank’s Managing Director for Trade Finance and Correspondent Banking, said the pan African bank was spearheading training to ensure African financial institutions can navigate a volatile global landscape, from the Ukraine crisis to ongoing Middle East tensions.