A partnership created to strengthen professional trade capability in Africa has reached an important milestone.
Angela Abordo, Trade Finance Officer at Agricultural Development Bank Plc, and Abena Anyen, Senior Business Support Analyst at Oakwood Green Advisory, have become the first graduates of the FITTskills program delivered through Africa Trade Academy (ATA) to earn the Certified International Trade Professional (CITP®) designation.
For Angela and Abena, the designation marks the latest step in careers already deeply connected to international trade. For ATA and the Forum for International Trade Training (FITT), it is also an early demonstration of what can happen when internationally recognized trade training is made accessible to professionals who are actively shaping Africa’s trade ecosystem.
“Angela and Abena are applying their expertise where strong trade capability has a direct effect: businesses’ ability to access markets, manage risk and pursue opportunity. Their achievement demonstrates the value of pairing practical experience with a rigorous, internationally recognized body of knowledge.” says Caroline Tompkins, CITP, President & CEO of FITT.
A partnership focused on professionalizing trade
Africa Trade Academy and FITT’s work together was established with a clear goal: to expand access to practical international trade education and help develop professionals equipped to navigate the increasingly complex realities of cross-border business.
ATA Founder and President Dode Seidu describes the achievement as evidence that the partnership is beginning to deliver on that ambition.
“The attainment of the CITP by these two speaks of the power of the partnership between Africa Trade Academy and Forum for International Trade Training (FITT),” says Seidu.
As a newer FITTskills delivery partner, providing training in Ghana and Nigeria, ATA has already supported 28 individuals in completing the training program and achieving the FITT Diploma in International Trade since 2025. The Diploma also plays an important role in the pathway to the CITP designation: completing the FITTskills program and earning the Diploma fulfills the educational requirement for professionals pursuing the designation through Pathway 1, alongside the applicable professional experience requirements.
In this way, the partnership is not only expanding access to international trade training, but also creating a pathway for more African professionals to work toward internationally recognized professional credentials. ATA continue to support professionals in developing the competencies needed to practise trade effectively across the continent.
From FITT’s perspective, that emphasis on capability is particularly important. International trade knowledge is not simply about understanding individual processes or transactions. It’s about bringing them all together to see how market research, finance, logistics, risk, compliance, sales, market entry and other decisions connect.
“When professionals understand how the full trade system connects, they can identify risks earlier, ask better questions and help businesses make sounder decisions,” says Tompkins. “That capability travels with them throughout their careers, and its value grows as they apply it with clients, colleagues, and businesses in their communities.”
Angela Abordo, CITP: seeing the impact behind the transaction
Angela’s career in international trade began in banking, where joining an international trade finance team gave her a firsthand view of how deeply trade can affect businesses and economies. More than a decade later, she continues to work in trade finance at Agricultural Development Bank Plc.
One particular experience illustrates why the work has remained meaningful to her.
Angela supported a mid-sized cocoa exporter that was struggling to fulfil an international contract because of cash-flow constraints. Her team structured pre-export financing alongside a confirmed letter of credit. The exporter went from shipping only a few containers annually to becoming a consistent supplier to Europe, and years later still points to that transaction as a turning point.
For Angela, experiences like that are a reminder that trade finance is about much more than processing documents.
“The most meaningful stories in my career are those where trade finance moved beyond transactions to enable growth, solve real business challenges, and contribute to economic development.”
That perspective has been strengthened by more than a decade of solving complex trade problems, including cases where detailed technical knowledge made the difference between a stalled transaction and a successful outcome. In one instance, Angela helped resolve multiple discrepancies under a letter of credit for an agricultural commodities shipment, using her knowledge of UCP 600 and close coordination with the parties involved to help secure payment for the exporter.
Her FITTskills studies gave her an opportunity to broaden that expertise beyond her already considerable experience.
“Through this program, I gained a deeper understanding of the subject and had many of my questions and areas of curiosity thoroughly addressed.”
The Global Value Chain course was a particular favourite because it allowed her to explore an area she had long wanted to understand more deeply.
Earning the CITP has now added another dimension to that development.
“I feel truly privileged to have earned the CITP designation, and it has significantly enhanced my confidence and professional self-image.”
Angela sees the designation strengthening her credibility and expertise while opening doors to broader opportunities, strategic collaborations, and future leadership roles in international trade.
Abena Anyen: helping African businesses become trade-ready
Abena’s route into international trade also began in banking, but much earlier in her career.
During her mandatory national service, she was assigned to the international trade services team of a bank in Accra. There, she processed international payments and outward remittances, handled shipping documents, helped prepare letters of credit and responded to client enquiries.
That early exposure quickly became a broader interest in the systems, controls and decisions that make cross-border business work.
Today, her work at Oakwood Green Advisory has expanded from individual transactions to the wider African trade ecosystem. She helps businesses navigate digital trade platforms, KYC and due-diligence requirements, market intelligence, trade-finance readiness, and transaction advisory.
A major motivation behind that work is helping African SMEs move from informal or opportunistic trade into stronger, more sustainable business structures.
“Many businesses have the potential to trade across borders but require support to transition from informal trading arrangements into structured, compliant and finance-ready operations.”
One of Abena’s most interesting projects involved the pilot phase of a digital trade platform. The challenge went beyond simply introducing new technology. Businesses often had deeply established ways of working and were reluctant to replace systems they already knew.
The experience taught her that trade transformation depends as much on trust, education, and demonstrating practical value as it does on technology.
Her FITTskills studies helped connect those practical experiences into a more complete picture of international trade.
“The courses helped me connect the knowledge I had gained through my work experience and develop a more complete understanding of the international trade lifecycle.”
That broader perspective has influenced how she evaluates opportunities, identifies information gaps, supports trade-finance readiness and works with clients and stakeholders.
She was especially drawn to the International Market Entry Strategies course, particularly its focus on intercultural competence and the intentionality required when communicating, negotiating and building relationships across markets.
Building on her FITTskills studies, earning the CITP designation marked another important step in Abena’s journey with FITT – one that recognized the international trade experience and professional expertise she had developed throughout her career.
For Abena, the CITP represents both recognition of what she has already built and a platform for what she hopes to contribute next.
“The CITP is more than a credential, it represents an important milestone in my career journey that encourages me to continue learning and contributing to the international trade profession.”
Her longer-term ambitions extend well beyond her own career. She hopes to help structure more executable trade transactions, improve African businesses’ access to financing and markets, and contribute to the continued growth of intra-African trade.
Building capability that travels further
Angela and Abena work in different roles, but their stories have an important point in common: knowledge becomes most valuable when it can be applied.
One professional may use it to help an exporter secure financing and complete a transaction. Another may use it to prepare an SME for new markets, improve its credibility or participate more effectively in formal trade channels.
That is also what makes this milestone significant for the FITT–Africa Trade Academy relationship.
“Trade growth depends on professionals who can turn opportunity into sound decisions and executable transactions,” says Tompkins. “Through our partnership with Africa Trade Academy, more professionals can build that capability in the markets and communities where they work. Angela and Abena’s achievement as the first CITPs to emerge from this partnership is an important early indication of the impact this model can have.”
Angela and Abena are the first CITPs to emerge from the partnership, but their achievement points to something much bigger: a growing pipeline of skilled trade professionals equipped to strengthen businesses, expand opportunities and help shape the future of trade across Africa.
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