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Integrated Report 2024
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Euro Policies insurance coverage On 15 May 2024, the Minister approved the ECIC request to provide insurance cover for Euro denominated transactions. Expanding the insurance coverage to Euro currency will help ECIC unlock opportunities for exporters and investors in regions where transactions are denominated in Euro currency. In addition, the repatriation of Euro currency in South Africa offers an advantage of diversifying the foreign currency reserves basket. New enquiries which are coming from Francophone countries can be supported to allow South African exporters to seize new opportunities in new markets. ECIC is an instrument in government’s hand to facilitate expanded trade and investments by SA companies. The Euro is gaining momentum in the international financial system. As demonstrated in comparative studies, the Euro dominates as a second currency after the US dollar, in terms of accumulated foreign exchange reserves; international debt issuances; international loans; foreign currency turnovers; and global payment currency from countries that transact in both USD and Euro. ECIC Thought Leadership The Corporation conducts research to identify potential trade and investment opportunities in countries and economic sectors, so that South African exporters and investors may take advantage of these opportunities, and by so doing, take advantage of the ECIC insurance support scheme. The following reports were finalised during the year: 1. Benin Country Report 2023 2. Togo Country Report 2023 3. Green Metals Sector Report 4. Uganda Country Report 5. T rade & Investment Opportunities in the African Plastics Sector Stakeholder Feedback During the 2023/24 financial year, the Corporation conducted the Employee Engagement Survey. The outcomes of this survey are detailed in the Stakeholder Section on page 78. This section also highlights the Click-Through Rate achieved during the first years of the AfCFTA media campaign.
Black Industrialists and Exporters Conference As part of stakeholder engagement, ECIC participated at the second Black Industrialists and Exporters Conference (BIEC) on 20 March 2024 at the Sandton Convention Centre aligned under the theme ‘Black industrialists catalysing economic growth and jobs’. This landmark event attracted hundreds of black industrialists drawn from myriads of industries including steel, healthcare, clothing, tourism and technology. The objective of the Black Industrialists Programme is to increase the participation of black South Africans in the ownership and control of productive enterprises in key sectors and value chains of the country’s economy in pursuit of building an inclusive economy and depending the attainment of the transformation objective. ECIC also launched a Trade Credit Insurance product which is the primary product offered by short term insurance companies. The product does not require any bank financing, and it is offered directly to the exporter to advance goods and/or services based on agreed payment terms to the foreign buyer. The payment or invoicing circle could range from 30 to 180 days. The key risk covered is non- payment by the foreign buyer after the due date of payment, as a result of commercial causes (inability to pay or insolvency of the foreign buyer) or political causes of loss (expropriation, change in law, currency transfer restriction or inconvertibility, war and civil disturbances) . The role of the product is to: • Promote export trade between the exporter and the foreign buyer • Support for the short-term trade transactions up to two years, will also include bond transactions of more than two (2) years • Filling in the market gap, by providing solutions for the exporters to augment the role played by the private sector • Support export transactions that fall within the priority sectors of the dtic ’s masterplans Trade Credit Insurance Product Launch
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