Afreximbank Academy, the corporate training arm of the African Export-Import Bank and CreditRegistry Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at unlocking digital financial literacy, credit education and trade capacity-building for entrepreneurs, businesses and professionals across the continent.
The three-year partnership will build an integrated learning ecosystem targeting young people, entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium enterprises, women-owned businesses and professionals, giving them practical tools to secure financing, strengthen creditworthiness and compete more confidently in both domestic and international markets.
The alliance pairs AFRACAD’s expertise in trade, development finance and institutional capacity-building with CreditRegistry’s specialisation in financial literacy, consumer credit education and digital learning delivery.
CreditRegistry, a financial technology company focused on credit information and digital solutions supporting financial inclusion and responsible lending across Africa, will integrate its Africa Consumer Credit Academy curriculum directly into the AFRACAD Learning Platform.
That integration is designed to create a single learning pathway running from foundational financial literacy, entrepreneurship and credit management through to advanced training in trade finance, compliance, due diligence and international trade.
The partnership aims to boost awareness and adoption of Afreximbank’s key digital platforms: the MANSA Customer Due Diligence Repository and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).
These tools help African businesses enhance compliance, access finance and confidently enter cross-border markets, with added value from the trade literacy training provided by the partnership.
Implementation will run through co-created digital courses, masterclasses, executive workshops, webinars and certification programmes delivered across AFRACAD’s existing learning infrastructure.
The initiative will start with 20,000 to 30,000 learners and aims to reach around three million families and businesses with financial education and trade skills across Africa and the Global Africa community.
Stephen Kauma, Group Managing Director of Human Resources at Afreximbank, framed the partnership as central to the continent’s broader development trajectory.
“Africa’s future will be built not only with capital, but with knowledge, skills and empowered people,” Kauma said. “Through this partnership, we are opening new pathways for the next generation of African entrepreneurs, business leaders and professionals to compete and thrive in an increasingly integrated African market and global economy. By connecting financial literacy with practical trade education, we can help turn ambition into enterprise, expand opportunity and drive more inclusive, sustainable prosperity.”
Dr. Jameelah Sharrieff-Ayedun, Co-Founder and Director of CreditRegistry Corporation, said the collaboration addresses a persistent gap between financial knowledge and financial access.
“This partnership is a major step forward for financial capability across Africa,” Sharrieff-Ayedun said. “By bringing CreditRegistry’s credit education expertise together with AFRACAD’s powerful trade and development platform, we will enable individuals and businesses to make smarter financial decisions, improve their access to finance and convert new knowledge into opportunities for entrepreneurship, innovation and trade.”
The partners expect the collaboration to produce stronger employability, more resilient enterprises, improved financial capability and wider participation in regional and international markets.
The scalable platform will also open new avenues for public-private collaboration, extending high-quality capacity-building to communities across Africa and the broader Global Africa diaspora while supporting more inclusive and resilient economic growth continent-wide.
The MoU provides a three-year framework for the two institutions to jointly develop and deliver learning initiatives advancing financial inclusion, strengthening trade capabilities and supporting Africa’s long-term economic transformation an approach that reflects a broader pattern among African development finance institutions, which have increasingly recognised that expanding access to capital and cross-border trade infrastructure delivers limited impact without a parallel investment in the financial literacy and credit education needed for entrepreneurs and MSMEs to actually use those tools effectively.
