The Perspective of Africa’s Economic Development: The support of Italian Institutions in Export Financing

The aim of the dissertation is representing what is the EXPORT CREDIT and how ECAs support SMEs' INTERNATIONALIZATION process, looking at the Italian one, called SACE-SIMEST. The first chapter introduces the concepts of risk, insurance and export credit. This will make it easier for readers to understand the role of ECAs, how they work, whom the actors are and what their role in the internationalization process is, with a final focus on the Italian ECA. The second chapter represents an analysis of Africa, often seen as an uncharted territory. It is carried out by showing macro-data and the latest trends. A special attention is drawn on Nigeria and South Africa, two of the most important actors. The third and last chapter offers two case studies about Italian SMEs that worked with SACE and SIMEST to go international, choosing completely different paths in order to meet their specific needs.