Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE federal export credit company, provided support for exporters and SMEs in the non-oil sector which more than doubled last year.
The support saw a three-digit growth, with non-oil trade secured reaching AED11.4bn ($3.1bn), a 128% growth compared to AED5bn in 2020.
ECI facilitated non-oil exports to 92 countries in 2021 against 75 in 2020, covering 18 sectors compared to 15 in 2020. Among the top destination for exports and re-exports were Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, South Africa, the UK, Hong Kong and France.
The export credit agency issued 6,620 revolving credit limits in 2021, an increase of 229% from the 2,013 facilities a year earlier. The value of exposure it underwrote increased by 266% to AED5.6bn in 2021 from AED1.5bn in 2020.
The company’s short-term trade finance guarantees extended to banks increased from AED680m in 2020 to AED1.1bn in 2021, while the value of medium/long-term trade finance guarantees extended to banks – a new product launched in 2021 – is recorded at AED574m.
Since its operations began in February 2018 and up till 2021, ECI supported non-oil GDP by insuring payments of manufacturers and traders for AED19bn, of which 60% were provided in 2021 alone.
It ended 2021 with record financial performance and triple-digit growth in various aspects of the business, including GWP growth of 510% from AED17.9m in 2020 to AED109.5m in 2021.
In 2021, ECI launched its political risk insurance solution for the first time, to provide financial protection to UAE investors and businesses that face the possibility of losing money because of political events. M