Italian credit management company enters South African market

The Sace group offers insurance cover in more than 150 countries and currently insures commercial transactions and financing worldwide for an overall value of about €32-billion.

This includes integrated credit management solutions such as the protection of investments, sureties and financial guarantees for commercial and financial trans- actions, as well as financial arrangements on projects and structured finance.
To date, Sace has achieved €490-million of new commitments in Africa as part of its Africa Programme, with 65 transactions assessed in the last five months in sectors such as oil and gas, infrastructure and transportation.
The group will use South Africa as the entry point into Southern and sub-Saharan Africa.
“The opening of a Johannes-burg office confirms Sace’s special attention to the Southern African region. Sace’s presence is intended to reinforce its support to Italian and foreign investors in the sub-Saharan region, characterised both by strong potential and relevant investment opportunities,” says Sace South Africa head Michael Creighton.
He adds that the company believes in the development of Africa and decided to open a new office in Johannesburg to support Italian and local business growth.

According to Creighton, the office will lay the framework of Sace’s Africa Programme, an initiative to provide greater support for companies investing or exporting in the region through the implementation of more flexible terms of cover.

“Following years of political instability, most sub-Saharan countries went through a broad restructuring process, supported by the International Monetary Fund-World Bank debt-relief initiative. Structural reforms helped to create a more favourable operating environment. Some of these countries are experiencing sustainable growth,” says Sace infrastructure and oil and gas head Ivan Giacoppo.
He points out that the company’s cover policy is related to a country’s political and economic situation, including progress made.

South Africa is an important trading partner for Italy. In 2007, Italian exports to South Africa reached €1,5-billion. Italy’s major export sectors are mechanical engineering, electronics and electrical equipment, and chemicals.

The company forecasts that Italian sales to South Africa will increase by 8,1% a year from 2008 to 2012.
Italian exports to sub-Saharan Africa increased 5,9% in 2007, a rate in line with the 5,7% growth in German exports but lower than the 11,1% average for euro zone exports to the region for the same period.
“Sace is setting up an international network, based on foreign acquisitions and the opening of international offices in ‘key’ markets. “We believe that opportunities arise from understanding differences – cultural, economic and financial,” concludes Giacoppo.