Progress report 2025 | 2026:

Supporting the export industry with a fair approach

Banks like KfW IPEX-Bank are able to provide targeted financing to the German and European export industries with the support of ECAs. Stefan, please explain the internal and external task profile of ECA structuring advisory services.

As a highly specialised ECA team, our advisory function is twofold. We provide internal support for project managers in structuring ECA transactions, as well as advising our customers – where we have an appropriate mandate – with the goal of developing and implementing the ideal ECA structure for them. We are able to cover a broad spectrum of products and countries thanks to our close cooperation with over 20 export credit agencies (ECAs) worldwide.

You and your team have succeeded in combining the interests of the private sector with those of government actors. To what extent does ECA advice act as an interface between industry and politics?

Government ECAs are policy instruments, primarily in OECD countries, to finance and support their country’s exporters. They provide state guarantees to cover export loans – particularly in high-risk countries and markets. It is often only these guarantees that enable commercial banks to grant such loans, as they would not usually be prepared to do so without security given the high level of risk. ECA guarantees therefore function as leverage to mobilise private capital – an issue of great political relevance at a time when immense volumes of investment are needed to respond to global challenges such as the energy transition, climate action and recently also defence.

To what extent are current geopolitical events and economic trends addressed in ECA product development?

In the last two to three years we have experienced a volume of product development in ECAs that is probably unprecedented in the entire history of ECAs. New ECA products primarily address the fact that industrial value creation is diminishing in Europe due to globalisation. This makes the previous focus of ECAs on pure industrial production in their own countries less important. Accordingly, their orientation has shifted from “national content” to the broader-based “national interest”. The main focus is on cover products that are not dependent on delivery.

There has been a significant increase in ECA financing at global level in recent years. How do you see the volume of business developing for KfW IPEX-Bank over the coming financial year?

The global market for export credit insurance has expanded greatly in recent years – particularly since the coronavirus pandemic – and more than doubled in the past decade. This growth is due partly to the introduction of new products, and partly to the substantial business expansion of some selected ECAs. There is currently no reason to doubt that the high market volume will remain at least stable. As one of the leading banks in the area of ECA financing, we are confident of continued strong demand for KfW IPEX-Bank. For instance, we reached a new record level of ECA financing last year. Even though it is always a challenge to uphold – or actually exceed – the high figures we have achieved, the current project pipeline makes us optimistic that we can maintain our success.

There are few sectors managing without artificial intelligence these days. Will enquiries be automated in future?

There is increasing progress in the application of artificial intelligence even in our specialised market segment. There are already a number of approaches and identified use cases. Our workflows are now benefiting from the positive initial results of a larger, recently launched internal AI project on document analysis. We are seeing initiatives at export credit agencies aimed at increasing the level of automation of application processes via digital portals. However, in my view the focus at present is still predominantly on automation and less on the use of AI elements.