Barrister. Banker. Builder of trade finance businesses.

Twenty-five years across law, investment banking and African trade finance. George Wilson advises banks, funds and development finance institutions on getting trade credit and dollar liquidity to the businesses that move goods across Africa.

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1996
Called to the Bar
Middle Temple, London
2000 to 2005
Regulatory lawyer
Credit Suisse First Boston, Barclays Capital
2006 to 2009
Credit and structuring
UBS, Lehman Brothers, Nomura in Hong Kong
2010 to 2025
African trade finance
Absa and Investec, Johannesburg
2025 to now
Fund chief executive
ARM Africa Trade Development Fund

Advisory

Practical help on African trade finance, from someone who has built the business twice.

Trade finance fund design

Mandate, structure and risk mitigation for funds that invest in trade finance, and the case development finance partners need to see.

Financial-institution trade programmes

Refinancing, structured letters of credit and risk distribution for African banks and non-bank lenders.

Development finance and risk mitigation

Working with development finance institutions and multilaterals on guarantees, funded programmes and co-investment.

All advisory work

Selected writing

Sep 2023The critical importance of trade credit and liquidity in Africa
GTR Africa supplementAfricans are best placed to trade their way out of the gap. They need credit and liquidity, and trade refinancing and structured letters of credit are the tools.
Jul 2023African sustainable trade finance: the way forwardPodcast
Trade Finance GlobalA conversation with Deepesh Patel on the African trade finance system and what stops it applying sustainability principles.
Apr 2023What does sustainability mean in Africa and why is trade finance the answer?
Global Trade ReviewSustainability and ESG are different things. Read from a developing economy, the UN goals point straight at trade finance.

All 14 articles and interviews

Next talk

GTR Trade Finance Investor Day

Bridging banks and capital markets: new models for a new asset class

10 November 2026, London

All speaking

Published and interviewed by

Global Trade Review
Trade Finance Global
ITFA
CNBC Africa
Treasury Today
Capital Markets in Africa