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My #1 Tip For International Trade

11 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this advisory video, the speaker addresses the challenges business owners face when managing cross‑border payments and supplier relationships. He explains how external events such as wars, shipping blockages, epidemics (Ebola, COVID‑19) can suddenly undermine trust between buyers and international suppliers, threatening the flow of goods. To mitigate these risks, he recommends partnering with a bank—specifically Abba Bank—to use formal financial instruments like letters of credit and bank guarantees. These tools provide a neutral, enforceable guarantee that reassures both parties, allowing trade to continue despite unpredictable external disruptions.

Chapters

Is it enough to trust your international suppliers, or are there other more strategic ways to handle payments across borders? It's an interesting time to be a business owner because here we import so much stuff, whether it's from China or Europe or anywhere else in the world. You need to have established working relationships where payments are being made and goods are being shipped all the time. Unfortunately, there's always external circumstances. There's a war, the shipping has been blocked, there's Ebola, there's COVID, there's something going on that can affect that and break down trust on your side and their side. This is where you need partners like Absa Bank because they can issue a letter of credit or they can give you a bank guarantee that improves the trust on both sides so that business can continue to operate and things can continue to move forward so that you don't get stuck in your business because of external factors.