Surecomp Enables Absa Group’s Roll Out of Pan-African Trade Finance Digitisation Across 10 Countries

Published: January 12, 2021

Toronto - Surecomp today announced that South African bank Absa Group has gone live with the latest version of its back-office trade finance solution IMEX in 10 countries across the continent as part of their ongoing digitisation initiatives.

A Surecomp customer since 1998, Johannesburg-based Absa Group has seen an unprecedented rise in demand for its trade finance services in the past two years. One of the main drivers for deploying Surecomp initially was to improve operational efficiency while mitigating risk and demonstrating agility in its ability to scale and meet increasing customer demand. Taking a phased approach throughout 2020 to bringing its multiple subsidiaries across Africa onto one integrated platform, the bank has now gone live on IMEX 8 in South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Mauritius, Seychelles and Mozambique.

This latest digital version offers a web-based interface for remote accessibility and open API connectivity, with full integration to the Surecomp Marketplace for access to other fintech partners within the trade finance ecosystem. As a result, Absa Group is now fully equipped to continue supporting its rapid growth projections, ensuring all customers receive a consistently superior service, while setting a new standard for pan-African trade finance digital transformation.

“This project exemplifies a strength of efficiency and governess that has ultimately resulted in a very successful outcome,” states Surecomp SVP of Account Management Yaron Hupert. “The Absa team was eager to learn and quickly became self-sufficient, which allowed us to move quickly and deploy ten entities in a uniquely short period of time.”

“Both teams have done a fantastic job under very difficult circumstances,” explains Michelle Knowles, Head of Trade Finance Product and Trade Working Capital Governance and Innovation at Absa Group. “I would like to thank Surecomp for its support in helping us meet our tight deadlines and for all their hard work, it’s been a great achievement and wonderful teamwork.”