Armenia’s economy is projected to grow 5% in 2025, according to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) latest Asian Development Outlook. The forecast signals a continued deceleration, as the temporary uplift… read more →

Standard Chartered, a bank, has today released a new whitepaper exploring the adoption of ISO 20022 XML to support corporates and financial institutions with their adoption of the new standard.… read more →

Digital technologies are changing the way we live, work, and trade. As WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala often says, the future of trade is digital, and it must be inclusive.

Trade has become well-established and recognised among practitioners and policymakers as an effective way to support and advance international development and poverty reduction. Multilateral institutions, including multilateral development banks (MDBs), have embraced this perspective, and most leading MDBs today put significant priority on the nexus between trade and development.

Is it possible to engage in the commodity trade finance market without getting your backside bitten off by the sharp-toothed beasts that lurk therein? John MacNamara examines the case for… read more →

The clue is in the name: Liberation Day. When President Trump announced at the beginning of his speech that he was declaring the independence of the United States from the global trade system, this was not a negotiation. The rhetoric used was violent: “America has been looted, pillaged and raped by other countries.” The scale of the tariffs imposed was unprecedented—a minimum of 10% and for some, notably China, much higher. 

President Donald Trump’s “America First” trade policies have upended global commerce, shifting US policy from multilateral cooperation to protectionist tariffs and politically motivated trade measures. While the US seeks to… read more →

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has reported its strongest financial performance to date, with 2024 net income rising 29% year-on-year to $973.5 million.  Total income reached $3.3 billion, up 23%,… read more →

Trade banks today are faced with a whirlwind of new changes and challenges. From tariffs and trade wars to digitalisation and data migrations, it can be a difficult space to operate in.