EDC’s Africa footprint under the Senate’s microscope

Export Development Canada (EDC), the federal export credit agency, offers Canadian exporters and investors financing and insurance that can absorb some of the risk of doing business abroad. The Senate foreign affairs committee’s December 2025 Africa report devotes a section to how much of that capacity actually reaches the continent — and concludes it is not enough.

What senators heard

• EDC has one office in Africa, in Johannesburg. EDC formalized that representation on October 28, 2015, naming Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya as early focus markets.
• EDC facilitated $1.4 billion in exports, foreign investment and trade development for the African region in 2023 — little more than 1% of the $131.4 billion it facilitated worldwide that year.
• In 2024, according to EDC’s annual report as cited by the committee, business facilitated in Africa and the Middle East combined was about $2.8 billion, roughly 2.2% of its geographic portfolio.
• Joanne Tognarelli, EDC’s Vice-President of Global Business Development, told senators that EDC considers some African countries to pose a lower investment risk than Mexico.

The committee’s Recommendation 19 asks the government to strengthen support for EDC and other instruments designed to de-risk and deepen Canadian commercial engagement in Africa.

The Caribbean comparison

EDC’s 2026–2030 Corporate Plan Summary shows the gap from another angle. Of the business it facilitated by geographic market in 2024, $2,779 million was in Africa and the Middle East, compared with $9,208 million in South and Central America and the Caribbean. The plan states that EDC will continue to support companies exporting to Africa and the Middle East, describing both as markets that will feature increasing opportunities for Canadian exporters.

Why it matters for the CACT community

For diaspora-led exporters, the headline is that perception of risk — not only actual risk — shapes who gets insured and financed. Senator Amina Gerba has since asked that EDC’s risk assessment mechanisms be reviewed to reflect African realities. In the meantime, companies should treat EDC as a first call, not a last resort: country-level risk varies widely, and the agency’s own officials say some African markets rank better than familiar destinations.