ESG was at the forefront of the discussion at the TXF Global Commodities event in Geneva. But it wasn’t just climate change and carbon neutrality on people’s minds. The ‘S’ portion of ESG is typically less focused on in the commodities world, despite having interesting implications for portfolio risk, and is gaining prominence.

Departures from parts of the trade credit and CPRI market – in particular by Zurich and QBE – have raised eyebrows as reduced capacity could make it harder for banks to secure a programme with a single insurer. What will be the impact, and can improved harmonisation of Basel-compliant documentation help bolster capacity?

Why are there still so few bridges between digital islands? And no ‘cars’ on the bridges that have been built? Michael Vrontamitis, advisor at Kountable and Subra Shankar, founder and principal at TOTTA look at why digital islands persist, and how they can be bridged. Do not ignore smaller businesses.

Ahead of TXF Global in Madrid next week, Max Thompson takes a look at the increased innovation and flexibility ECAs are showing around the structure of export credits in Africa, particularly covering the 15% down payment financing traditionally needed for ECA-backed deals. And there is room for further development of the ECA product offering.

With a promise to make a significant contribution towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 and climate resilience, the $1.1 billion Angolan water infrastructure project breaks records and paves the way for big-ticket blended finance deals in sub-Saharan Africa water.