What We do
African Soil Capital is a specialist trade finance advisory firm focused on delivering high-quality, scalable trade finance solutions to top and mid-tier corporates, trade finance providers and institutional investors doing business in Africa.
Business Clients
Facilitate balance-sheet friendly funding solutions to top and mid-tier corporates looking to free up cash in their trading relationships, optimise their working capital and strengthen their supply chains. These include payables finance, receivables finance, sales finance and inventory finance solutions.
Trade Finance Providers
Enable banks, non-bank trade finance providers and fintechs to scale and optimise the funding solutions they offer their clients through scalable funded risk distribution solutions.
Institutional Investors
We believe trade finance is a highly investable asset class, with stable returns, low loss norms, and low correlation to other asset classes. We provide avenues for Institutional Investors to participate in this asset class.
Trade finance is evolving rapidly in the way we enable it, facilitate it, and finance it. African Soil Capital is helping close Africa’s trade finance gap bringing new sources of liquidity to the industry and supporting trade finance providers to do more in Africa.
Assets Under Management (AUM)
Assets Under Management (AUM) in 12 markets across Africa rose to around $1,098 billion in 2020, from a 2008 total of $293 billion [PwC].
Africa Market Capitalization
Capital markets remain quite small and illiquid. In the African bond markets, government bonds dominate, accounting for more than three quarters of bond market capitalisation.
Investment Scheme Industry
SA’s Collective Investment Scheme industry closed 2021 with R3.14tn in AUM, of which R0.8tn was held in interest bearing funds [ASISA].
The September 2022 money market rate was 5.66% [Moody’s].
AFCFTA
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the largest free trade area in the world with 1.3billion people across 55 countries is expected to boost Africa’s income by $450bn by 2035 and increase exports by $560bn. [World Bank].
Trade Finance Gap
Only 40% of Africa’s trade is bank-intermediated – a far lower share than the global average of 80%. The trade finance gap also remains significantly high at $81 billion in 2019 [AfDB/Afreximbank]. Banks should be encouraged to do more, and non-bank financial institutions should play a bigger role.
African Soil Capital provides scalable funding solutions to business clients and trade finance providers in Africa. Find out how
Latest From The Blog:
Bridging the African trade finance gap
African Soil Capital CEO Tim Muchiri Nyaga and 4 other panelists spoke on “Bridging the African trade finance gap” at the 2023 ExCred Africa conference on 14th November at the Hilton Sandton. Among other things, Tim spoke on promoting “trade finance as an asset class” and how institutional investors can participate in growing trade in Africa.
ExCred Africa 2022: Bridging the African trade finance gap
I will be sharing my thoughts at #ExCredAfrica on how we can bridge the African trade finance gap.
Hope to see you there! #tradefinance #supplychainfinance #exportfinance
ExCred Africa Insuring export credit, trade, project finance and political risk in Africa 15 November 2022 | Johannesburg, South Africa Connect with trade and insurance leaders to collaborate and understand.
Trade finance funds – where next?
Portfolio managers have been eyeing up trade finance funds with interest – particularly in today’s low interest rate yet yield hungry environment. What more can be done to educate investors on the asset class’s risk and rewards? DB Flow’s Clarissa Dann reports on some of the key themes from two International Trade & Forfaiting Association panel discussions.