Eastern and Southern African Trade Advisers

What Eastern and Southern African Trade Advisers does

Eastern and Southern African Trade Advisers (ESATAL) is a Mauritius-based regulated fund manager that operates the Eastern and Southern African Trade Fund (ESATF). The entity was established in 2013 and began commercial operations in August 2019; it has operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trade & Development Bank (TDB) since June 2022, following TDB's buyout of co-founder GML Capital LLP. The firm is licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius as a CIS Manager and holds a Global Business Licence.

ESATAL's product is a trade finance fund providing capital to exporters and importers across the Tripartite Region — the combined COMESA, EAC, and SADC blocs covering 27 African countries. The fund is structured for qualified investors with a USD 100,000 minimum investment, targets returns of USD 1-month Term SOFR plus 3-5%, and is described as scalable to at least USD 1 billion in AUM. Borrower sourcing and LP distribution are conducted through TDB's regional offices in Nairobi, Harare, Kinshasa, and Addis Ababa; the fund is not offered in the UK, EEA, or US.

The business model is a traditional asset management fee structure: ESATAL charges a 1.50% per annum management fee on AUM, with no disclosed performance fee or co-investment layer. The firm operates with a small team (11-50 employees) and has no public partners or co-managers beyond its DFI parent. Revenue is therefore a linear function of AUM scale, with the principal growth lever being LP fundraising and deal pipeline expansion through TDB's regional footprint.

Name

Eastern and Southern African Trade Advisers

Legal name

Eastern and Southern African Trade Advisers Limited

Website

https://esatal.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ESATAL is a Mauritius-regulated fund manager operating the Eastern and Southern African Trade Fund, providing trade financing to exporters and importers across the 27-country COMESA, EAC, and SADC Tripartite Region under a 1.50% AUM management fee model, distributed through its parent TDB's regional offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trade Finance Fund Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers (52231)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153)

akta.pro primary industry

Asset-Based Lending (ABL) (FSANADAD)

Keywords

• Trade finance fund
• Fund management services
• Collective investment scheme
• African emerging markets
• Expert investor fund

Headquarters

HQ city

Ebène

HQ country

Mauritius

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fund Management Fees: ESATAL earns a fund management fee of 1.50% per annum on assets under management. No performance fees are charged. The fund targets returns of USD 1-month Term SOFR + 3-5% per annum for investors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ESATAL is a regulated fund manager that operates the Eastern and Southern African Trade Fund (ESATF), an open-ended collective investment scheme providing trade financing instruments (loans, receivables financing, letters of credit and other documentary credits) to exporters and importers domiciled across the Tripartite Region (SADC, EAC and COMESA, 27 countries). The fund targets short-duration instruments with a weighted average portfolio life under two years and aims to deliver returns of USD 1-month Term SOFR + 3-5% per annum to qualified Expert Investors.

Product overview

Eastern and Southern African Trade Advisers Limited (ESATAL) operates as a single-product fund management company offering the Eastern and Southern African Trade Fund (ESATF). ESATF is an open-ended expert fund that provides trade financing instruments including loans, receivables financing, and documentary credits to support exporters and importers across the Tripartite Region (SADC, EAC & COMESA). The investment strategy services are integral to managing the fund's portfolio, which focuses on short-duration instruments with less than two years weighted average portfolio life. ESATAL is wholly owned by Trade & Development Bank (TDB) and is authorized by the Financial Services Commission Mauritius.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Eastern and Southern African Trade Fund (ESATF) Open-ended collective investment scheme (expert fund) providing trade financing for exporters and importers in the Tripartite Region (COMESA, EAC, SADC). Targets returns of USD 1-month Term SOFR + 3-5% per annum after fees, with monthly subscriptions and monthly redemptions requiring three months' notice. Minimum investment USD 100,000. Open only to Expert Investors.
• Trade Finance Investments (underlying ESATF portfolio) Secured or unsecured loans bearing fixed or floating rates of interest, used to finance the purchase and export of goods to identified buyers. Individual transactions benefit from security structures and enhancements designed to reduce default risk and improve recovery. These are the underlying investments issued/financed through ESATF for ESATAL's Expert Investor clients.
• ESATF Investment Strategy Services Investment management services focusing on trade finance, structured-trade finance and export finance obligations primarily in the Tripartite Region. Includes pre-export finance, project and commodities finance, receivables financing, and financing of letters of credit and other documentary credits, with active portfolio management ensuring diversified spread of risk across geographic, structure, sector, duration and liquidity dimensions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 54% of Africa's GDP and 58% of its population covered by Tripartite Region investments
• +3 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• GML Capital LLPminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013GML Capital LLP (London, England) was selected as TDB's joint-venture business partner to operationalize the fund manager (ESATAL) for the trade finance fund (ESATF). GML was bought out by TDB effective June 30, 2022, making ESATAL a wholly-owned subsidiary of TDB.
• Ocorian Corporate Services (Mauritius) LimitedcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAppointed as Administrator of the ESATF fund, providing fund administration services.
• AfrAsia Bank Limited, MauritiuscoreOthersAppointed as Custodian and Bankers for the ESATF fund.
• Deloitte, MauritiuscoreOthersAppointed as Auditors of the ESATF fund.
• BLC Robert & Associates, MauritiuscoreOthersAppointed as Legal Advisers to the ESATF fund.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Proparco: French DFI financing private-sector projects in emerging economies, with a focus on Africa, financial inclusion and private credit. Comparable as a development-finance investor with trade and SME finance instruments competing for similar impact-allocator capital.
• FMO (Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank): Dutch DFI investing in private-sector growth in developing countries including trade finance, financial institutions and private credit. Comparable as a larger, more diversified DFI offering overlapping trade and private-credit exposures in emerging markets including Africa.
• DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft): German DFI providing long-term financing to private enterprises in developing and emerging markets. Overlaps with ESATAL in trade finance, private credit and emerging-market fund investments, but with a much broader sector and geographic footprint.
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD): Multilateral development bank active in emerging Europe, Central Asia and parts of Africa, with a sizeable trade-finance programme. Comparable for its structured trade-finance, working-capital and risk-sharing facilities that compete with ESATF's product set.
• International Finance Corporation (IFC): World Bank Group's private-sector arm, investing across debt and equity in emerging markets including trade finance and financial institutions. Overlaps with ESATAL in private credit and emerging-market trade-finance exposures but at vastly greater scale and geographic breadth.

Emerging players

• responsAbility Investments AG: Swiss impact investment manager with private-credit and trade-finance strategies in emerging markets. Comparable as a small specialist fund manager with impact-mandated pooled vehicles, though with broader geographic exposure than ESATF.
• Finance in Motion: Impact-focused fund manager advising and managing public and private investment funds for development finance across emerging markets. Comparable as a niche, regulated fund manager operating pooled vehicles for impact-oriented institutional capital.
• BlueOrchard Finance: Impact investment manager running private credit and inclusive-finance funds across emerging markets. Comparable as a niche fund manager pooling institutional capital into emerging-market credit, though not focused on African trade finance specifically.

Direct peers

• Africa Finance Corporation (AFC): Pan-African multilateral development finance institution providing project, infrastructure and trade-related financing across Africa. Comparable as an Africa-focused pooled investment vehicle with similar institutional backing, capital markets access and developmental mandate.
• African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank): Cairo-based multilateral trade finance institution providing financing and risk-bearing facilities across African trade. Directly comparable to ESATAL/TDB as a multilateral trade-finance platform focused on the African market, with similar preferred-creditor dynamics and a comparable deal universe in COMESA/SADC corridors.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eastern and Southern African Trade Advisers