In this Business Talk with Michael Avery interview, Inwang Akpan – Standard Bank Head of Trade for Transaction Banking – discusses the unique challenges of being an African exporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akpan is an executive with extensive experience in banking operations, relationship management, business development functions, deal origination, and risk management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before being made Head of Trade, Akpan was the Head of Transactional Products and Services (TPS) for Stanbic IBTC Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There, he was responsible for the TPS strategy and for managing the team executing this strategy \u2013 ensuring that Stanbic\u2019s corporate and investment banking clients get excellent value for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this Business Talk interview, Akpan discusses the state of the exports industry \u2013 both for South Africa, and Africa as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He outlines the unique challenges of being an African exporter, and explains how businesses can navigate these challenges effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akpan then discusses the opportunities for African businesses to trade with each other, and highlights where intra-African trade relations are currently the strongest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He expands upon the biggest trends when it comes to intra-African trading, and highlights the infrastructural challenges that inhibit trading within the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akpan concludes the interview by highlighting the Middle-East\u2019s increasing interest in building trade relations with African countries and explains how South African businesses can take advantage of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Watch the full interview with Inwang Akpan below.<\/p>\n\n\n