Well merited: Cameroonian, Prof Kelly Mua, gets strategic role at African Trade & Investment Dev’t Insurance.

Group A of the organisation includes Cameroon, Angola, Malawi and Zambia.

Prof Kelly Mua picked the role at the end of the 24th Session of the General Assembly of the august institution. The gathering was held June 26 in Livingstone, Zambia.

The stellar Cameroonian academic will be responsible for managing the activities and general operations of the organisation, whose remit covers a number of countries exposed to commercial and investment risks. 

Through his actions, he will help the said countries protect themselves from the wrath of financial backers.

In the case of Africa, Prof Kelly Mua Kingsley will be responsible for ensuring that the said countries are eligible to cover risks, in particular those linked to their failure to honour sovereign guarantees. 

He will also have to mobilise the credit insurance solution on behalf of the said countries in the event that they are exposed to the risk of default. 

The move will enable member or non-member states to mitigate risks. It will also give the member states the opportunity to protect themselves against risks. Its effectiveness lies in the fact that it replaces costly sovereign guarantees.

A graduate of the prestigious American Harvard University, the new incumbent administrator will be responsible, among other things, for the State's day-to-day financial operations, boosting capital market management and monitoring public finance reforms. 

A member of a number of local and international committees and organisations, Professor Kelly Mua Kingsley lectures financial and economic engineering at national and international universities.

By joining the ATIDI Board of Directors on behalf of four countries, he has opened up yet another window on the international scene, where his skills and reputation precede him. 

The African Trade and Investment Development Insurance, ATIDI, in appointing him as a full director, has made the choice of competence as its missions call for no laxity or distraction in order to protect its members as well as private institutions, from the risks of payment default.

In fact, ATIDI was created to provide, facilitate, encourage and develop the provision or support of insurance, including co-insurance and reinsurance, guarantees and other financial instruments and services, for the purposes of trade, investment and other productive activities in African States. 

This is in addition to those already offered by the public or private sector, or in cooperation with the latter. As such, it facilitates foreign investment in Africa by providing insurance against trade and investment risks.

Presented as the catalyst for trade and investment and the trade risk mitigation tool for Africa, ATIDI contributes to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AFCFTA, while supporting the process of economic recovery. 

To achieve the said objectives and fulfil its mandate, the institution facilitates the development of trade, investment and other productive activities in member states.

The African Trade and Investment Development Insurance, ATIDI, it should be said, was founded in 2001 by African States to cover trade and investment risks of companies doing business in Africa. 

ATIDI predominantly provides Political Risk, Credit Insurance and, Surety Insurance. Since inception, ATIDI has supported USD78 billion worth of investments and trade into Africa. 

For over a decade, ATIDI has maintained an ‘A/Stable’ rating for Financial Strength and Counterparty Credit by Standard & Poor’s, and in 2019, ATIDI obtained an A3/Stable rating from Moody’s, which has now been revised to A3/Positive.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3164 of Wednesday July 10, 2024