Cairo, Egypt — The Afreximbank Academy (AFRACAD) has received the Silver Award in the Professional Development category at the 2025 European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Excellence in Practice (EiP) Awards, which celebrate impactful and high-quality learning and development (L&D) partnerships in the executive, professional, talent, and organizational development areas.
Presented in Stockholm, Sweden, early this month, the award recognises AFRACAD's Certificate of Trade Finance in Africa (COTFIA) programme — a pioneering initiative that has advanced trade finance capabilities and fostered professional excellence across the African continent for nearly a decade, implemented by Afreximbank in partnership with FCI and the Onsi Sawiris School of Business of the American University in Cairo (AUC).
COTFIA programme was launched in 2016, initially known as the Certificate of Finance in International Trade (COFIT), under the auspices of Afreximbank's Factoring Working Group (FWG), chaired by Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President of the Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank. Developed in partnership with FCI, the University of Malta, and Quarterback, the initiative aims to build Africa's trade finance and factoring expertise in line with the Bank's strategic vision of strengthening Africa's trade ecosystem.
Commenting on the award, Stephen Tio Kauma, Group Managing Director, Human Resources at Afreximbank noted: "We are deeply grateful for this award which highlights Afreximbank's continuing impact on the professional development of trade experts across the continent. Participating in the EFMD Conference was far more than an opportunity to present our case or receive recognition — it was a platform to amplify the vision, mission, and strategic mandates of Afreximbank and AFRACAD before an international audience."
Dr. Anan Shendy, from Afreximbank's AFRACADrepresented the Bank at the conference, delivering a formal presentation of the Bank's award-winning case study titled, "Transcending Borders: A Pan-African Partnership to Support Trade Professionals." The presentation was delivered before a distinguished audience and judging panel at the Stockholm School of Economics and was done jointly with representatives from the American University in Cairo (AUC) and FCI.
In 2021, AFRACAD partnered with the Onsi Sawiris School of Business at the AUC, to strengthen the programme's academic rigour and regional relevance. Since then, AFRACAD has taken on the crucial mandate of managing and continuously enhancing COTFIA, effectively institutionalising and scaling Afreximbank's capacity-building efforts.
The programme has so far trained more than 150 professionals from across the continent, equipping them with the technical, regulatory, and practical competencies required to strengthen Africa's trade finance landscape and unlock new opportunities for intra-African and global trade.
With more than 950 member institutions across over 90 countries, EFMD is the world's largest international network for management development. Over the past 18 years, the Excellence in Practice (EiP) Awards have become a global benchmark for excellence in executive educations showcasing the most effective collaborations between organizations and learning institutions and positioning recipients among the world's leading innovators in learning and development.
