ICC Kenya Banking Commission Conference was held today at the Sarova Panafric Hotel. Themed ‘Banking and Finance in Africa: The Nexus Between Global Rules and Access to Finance’, the event aimed at adding value through innovative solutions that would ease the trade finance relationship and access between the banking fraternity and customers, particularly the SMEs.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the world’s largest business organization representing 45 million companies from all sectors and company sizes with representation in 170 countries. ICC Kenya is currently domiciled at KEPSA and membership is open to associations and companies of all sizes and sectors.

While officially opening the conference, Mr. Patrick Obath – Chairman, ICC Kenya welcomed participants saying the ICC Kenya chapter aims to bring the services of the ICC closer to local businesses with intentions to also expand into the larger EAC. “There are a lot of activities both at the private and company levels which you can benefit from by being a member of the ICC Kenya Banking Commission and we especially thank KEPSA for the instrumental role it continues to play in supporting the ICC Kenya Chapter since inception in 2017,” He said.

Making his opening remarks, Mr. Andrew Kigira – Vice President, International Chamber of Commerce, Banking Commission said sustainability in business ecosystems required a paradigm shift when it comes to SMEs who need fair pricing and quick and flexible decisions when seeking financing often to do with capital expenditure for them to grow. “However, some of the feedback we have received from the SMEs includes concerns such as lenders being large, bureaucratic and traditional in their approach to funding SMEs,” He noted. Mr Kigira added that lenders have also been known to focus only on collateral requirements while pushing expensive products and even moving goalposts during the funding and disbursement process.

The Chair of the ICC Kenya Banking Commission Mr. Kenneth Miriti said the ICC strives to promote international trade, responsible business conduct and regulation of businesses through various advocacy and standard-setting activities with a direct reach to over 6 million businesses across the world. “ICC produces universally accepted Rules and Guidelines for SMEs and businesses to access the financing they need to grow. ICC provides an opportunity to articulate issues affecting the local banking industry such as Arbitration and Mediation. We equally have qualified arbitrators at the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration who can handle regional and international disputes,” Remarked Mr. Miriti.

The event featured interactive panel sessions and expert presentations. Topics discussed in the panel sessions included Sustainable Trade Finance; Access to Trade Finance for SMEs and ADR for the Finance and Banking Sector. Presentations made during the event were on ICC Academy Presentation on Training & Capacity Building; Digitalisation in Trade Finance – URDTT Rules 2022; Risk, AML & Compliance; GLOBAL RULES – From Paper to digital; Trade Register and Swift ISO 20022 (Amendment to Swift management systems, Digitisation).