The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) officially launched today in Cairo the operations of "MANSA", a pan-African due diligence framework for financial institutions, companies and SMEs, developed to address the perceived risk of doing business in Africa and with Africans. MANSA is a single source of primary data required for customer due diligence (CDD) and Know Your Customer (KYC) checks on African entities, including financial institutions, businesses and SMEs, in line with best practices.

The platform will also serve to address the key trade-related challenges facing the continent, including the lack of market information, the high cost of doing business in Africa and the discovery of African counterparties. The launch of MANSA operations was announced at a virtual event organized by Afreximbank in the form of a panel discussion involving Prof. Benedict Oramah, Chairman of Afreximbank; Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank Group; Stefan Nalletamby, Director – Financial Sector Development Department at the African Development Bank; Dr. Naglaa Nozahie, Advisor to the Governor, African Affairs, Central Bank of Egypt and Eng. Mansur Ahmed, President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.

 
Speaking at the event, Professor Benedict Oramah said: "Globally, regulators are hardening their stance as well as the severity of their sanctions for non-compliance with customer due diligence compliance rules instituted for pre come various financial crimes and related activities. This has significantly increased the cost and complexity of meeting the requirements of due diligence and Know Your Customer. We created MANSA as a solution to the negative impact on Africa, such as reducing risk, withdrawing correspondent banking relationships and reducing trade financing and investment financial flows to Africa. In a fragmented continent of 55 countries that have barely traded with each other since they became colonies, MANSA offers an opportunity to start lowering borders and support the achievement of the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The platform is named after Mansa Musa, the emperor of the Malian Empire in the 1300s, who was responsible for opening trade across Africa and would be the only person to control the flow of gold between Africa and the Mediterranean. In this initial phase of implementation, MANSA is now open to African companies to integrate their company profiles into the repository. Following an integration and validation process in line with the Platform's compliance requirements, African entities will have their profiles listed and made available to repository users."