About Us

Trade Catalyst Africa (TCA) is a catalytic financing facility wholly owned by TradeMark Africa (TMA); that aims to address the challenge of access to finance for trade infrastructure and trade finance.

TCA will address this through blended finance to de-risk commercial investments in trade projects. It will specifically focus on investments in trade infrastructure, both hard and soft infrastructure, and providing better access to trade finance for SMEs.

USAID has provided the initial capital of $25 Million to operationalise TCA. TCA will leverage this funding to raise additional capital from development finance institutions (DFIs), commercial banks, private equity funds, microfinance institutions, FinTechs and other financial institutions for investment.

Ultimately, TCA will be an evergreen fund and will revolve its funding across multiple projects by recouping its investments using a transparent revenue model.

Financing Windows

Factory

Developer Window

To support the development of trade infrastructure projects such as industrial parks, one stop border posts, digital cross-border platforms.

Under the Developer Window TCA works as a project developer in OSBP and ICT for Trade projects to syndicate resources for supporting in areas such as industrial land and supply of equipment. Such projects include:

  1. Support to One Stop Border Posts– ‘For OSBP A’ ,TCA would utilize its funding to provide credit enhancement structures that would allow a Development Finance Institution (DFI) to invest the debt required to develop the project. TCA will use the funding to develop the project and once developed debt raised would be repaid with interest through charging an additional fee on trucks for a specific number of years (between 7 and 10 years). Our preliminary calculations show that to recover the investment a user charge of around USD 30 per vehicle would be needed while the likely economic benefit for the users would be in the range of USD 200.
  2. Support to Industrial Parks– After conducting detailed feasibility studies of potential projects, both TMA and TCA work together, where TCA works on getting a zone operator and tenant/investors to build grain handling, processing and storage facilities through syndicating DFI capital. Some projects which TCA will consider are Kilifi Eco Industrial Park, Oserian Park in Naivasha and Jinja Industrial Park in Uganda.
  3. Support to provision of Trade Facilitation Equipment – TCA works to provide a range of trade facilitation related equipment to improve trade efficiency such as scanners, weigh in motion bridges, and port equipment through capital leases to prevent trade from slowing down due to the lack of availability of such equipment at key points along key trade corridors.
  4. Support to Digital Trade Systems– TCA explores development of digital platforms for trade between Kenya and Europe that aim to eliminate paperwork and introduce much better visibility up and down supply chains. TCA looks to create the platform and then charge user fees per transaction to recover the costs associated with developing the platform. On the digital trade system detailed stakeholder discussions on system design are underway and the platform development will begin post this.
Industrial parks

Industrial parks

An area zoned and dedicated to industrial development, facilitating economies of scale in investments in power, water, waste management and other infrastructure.

One stop border posts

One stop border posts

An OSBP uses simplified and harmonized legal and institutional framework, facilities, and associated coordinated procedures and processes that enable goods, people, and vehicles crossing a border, to stop only once in the country of entry.

Logistics Facilities

Logistics hub

A trade and logistics facility comprises a series of cold and hard storage infrastructure, grading and sorting centres and packing sheds, located together with ancillary services including transport services, testing and certification, with strong connectivity to a series of designated product supply chains.

Ports

Ports

Port infrastructure improvement to include gates and yards, expansion of port access roads, berth upgrading), financial assistance in securing works, legal and regulatory revision, productivity improvements and equipment upgrades to help reduce the time to move and clear goods through Ports.

Financing

Trade Finance

To support the development of trade infrastructure projects such as industrial parks, one stop border posts, digital cross-border platforms.

Under the Developer Window TCA works as a project developer in OSBP and ICT for Trade projects to syndicate resources for supporting in areas such as industrial land and supply of equipment. Such projects include:

  1. Support to One Stop Border Posts– ‘For OSBP A’ ,TCA would utilize its funding to provide credit enhancement structures that would allow a Development Finance Institution (DFI) to invest the debt required to develop the project. TCA will use the funding to develop the project and once developed debt raised would be repaid with interest through charging an additional fee on trucks for a specific number of years (between 7 and 10 years). Our preliminary calculations show that to recover the investment a user charge of around USD 30 per vehicle would be needed while the likely economic benefit for the users would be in the range of USD 200.
  2. Support to Industrial Parks– After conducting detailed feasibility studies of potential projects, both TMA and TCA work together, where TCA works on getting a zone operator and tenant/investors to build grain handling, processing and storage facilities through syndicating DFI capital. Some projects which TCA will consider are Kilifi Eco Industrial Park, Oserian Park in Naivasha and Jinja Industrial Park in Uganda.
  3. Support to provision of Trade Facilitation Equipment – TCA works to provide a range of trade facilitation related equipment to improve trade efficiency such as scanners, weigh in motion bridges, and port equipment through capital leases to prevent trade from slowing down due to the lack of availability of such equipment at key points along key trade corridors.
  4. Support to Digital Trade Systems– TCA explores development of digital platforms for trade between Kenya and Europe that aim to eliminate paperwork and introduce much better visibility up and down supply chains. TCA looks to create the platform and then charge user fees per transaction to recover the costs associated with developing the platform. On the digital trade system detailed stakeholder discussions on system design are underway and the platform development will begin post this.
Trade Finance platforms

Trade Finance platform

Digital Cross-border trade

Digital Cross-border trade platform

How We Evaluate Investments

Relevance

High potential of enabling export and intra-regional trade.

Sustainability

Meets environmental, social, and governance guidelines.

Predictability

Transparency provided from early stages of engagement.

Impact

Clear impact on economic growth, diversity, and inclusion.

Ethical Approach

Build consensus of all project stakeholders.

Commercially Viable

Demonstrable value for money.

Investment Criteria

Our Team

The Board

Patrick Obath
Board Chairman, TCA

Patrick Obath

Gabriel Negatu
Board Member

Gabriel Negatu

Patricia Ojangole
Board Member

Patricia Ojangóle

Board Chairman, TCA

Patrick Obath

Patrick Obath is the managing consultant of Eduardo and Associates. He previously served as Managing Director and Country Chairman for Kenya Shell and Shell Tanzania. He also serves as board chairman for PZ Cussons East Africa Limited, KCA University, Board of Trustees, Kenya Cultural Centre, Starehe Boys Centre and Board of Trustees, LVCT Health. He also serves as a board member of Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Afren Plc, Standard Chartered Bank – Kenya Ltd, Wananchi Group Holdings Ltd, New Forests Company Holdings Limited and Unga Group Holdings Limited.

Board Member

Gabriel Negatu

Mr Gabriel Negatu is the former Director General at the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). He has more than 25 years of senior level program, operations and managerial experience, including 18 years at AfDB. He has extensive experience in operations having been senior and principal programme officer from 1998 to 2002, chief programme officer from 2002 to 2006 and sector director for economic and financial governance, where he headed the bank’s first governance department. Mr. Negatu was credited for successfully leading the bank’s response to the global financial crisis and for spearheading the use of budget support operations for fragile states.

Mr Negatu holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography and Planning from California State University and a Master’s Degree in Public and International Administration with a focus on Economics and Social Development from the university of Pittsburgh.

Board Member

Patricia Ojangóle

Patricia is a professional accountant with 17 years’ experience in Banking and Finance. Currently, she is the Managing Director of Uganda Development Bank Limited she has been instrumental in turning around the Bank to become the preferred and trusted partner to the Government of Uganda in achieving Socio-economic development aspirations.

Prior to becoming the Managing Director, she worked as a Chief Audit Executive at Uganda Development Bank and a Senior Internal Audit Manager at Standard Bank Group. She has specific competences in Strategy development and implementation, Risk management, Corporate Governance and Finance

Patricia holds a first-class Master of Philosophy in Development Finance from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. She also holds an Executive Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute, Arusha, Tanzania; a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Degree from Makerere University, Uganda and has completed several leadership and management programs. She is currently undertaking her PhD studies in development finance at the University of Stellenbosch.

Patricia is a Fellow of the Association of the Certified Chartered Accountants (UK); the Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), as well as The Institute of Internal Auditors Uganda (IIA).

She is a member of the Board of Uganda Development Bank Ltd, Busitema University Fund Ltd, and The New Vision Group. She is also a member of the Management Board of the European Union Funded START facility and serves on the boards of the Association of Development Finance Institutions in Africa and in the Association of member countries of Islamic Development Bank.

CEO

Duncan Onyango
Chief Executive Officer, TCA

Duncan Onyango

Chief Executive Officer, TCA

Duncan Onyango

Duncan, an Oxford-educated investment executive with over two decades of management experience, assumed his role on 3 July 2023. He joins TCA from Pharo Ventures East Africa, a for-profit arm of The Pharo Foundation focused on investing in commercially viable and environmentally sustainable enterprises in Eastern Africa. Duncan brings an abundance of skills to his new role from his vast experience gained from working in the donor, development finance, private and public sector environments, having equally served on the boards of diverse organisations globally.

Blog Posts

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Supporting women traders’ access to export markets for improved incomes

Our Partners

USAID has provided the initial capital of $25 Million to operationalise TCA.

TCA will leverage this funding to raise additional capital from development finance institutions (DFIs), commercial banks, private equity funds, microfinance institutions, FinTechs and other financial institutions for investment. Ultimately, TCA will be an evergreen fund and will revolve its funding across multiple projects by recouping its investments using a transparent revenue model.

USAID
TradeMark Africa

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