Trade Shield Launches Credit-Risk Index for 14 Industries

In Short

• Trade Shield launched a new industry credit-risk index in Johannesburg.
• It covers 14 sectors, including agriculture, construction, and FMCG.
• The index is built from data on more than 250,000 businesses.
• It is monitored monthly and published every quarter.

What Happened

Trade Shield says trade credit risk management in South Africa needs to move beyond static, backward-looking checks. Trade credit is when one business supplies goods or services and lets the buyer pay later, often on 30 to 90 day terms.

To support faster decisions, Trade Shield unveiled a new industry credit-risk index on September 9 in Johannesburg. The index tracks payment behaviour, credit risk, and trends across 14 industries. It includes sectors like agriculture, construction, and FMCG, which stands for fast moving consumer goods, such as packaged food and household items.

Trade Shield says the index uses information drawn from more than 250,000 businesses. It is monitored monthly, then released quarterly. The aim is to give finance teams, sales teams, and credit managers a more current view of how reliably companies are paying in each sector.

Why It Matters

Many firms still rely on annual financial statements and one-off credit checks. Those can be slow to update and may miss rapid shifts in cash flow stress.

A quarterly industry index can help businesses spot early warning signs, like longer payment delays in a specific sector. That matters for any company offering invoice terms, distributing goods on credit, or extending supplier financing.

For lenders, insurers, and B2B marketplaces, a sector-level view can also support pricing and risk limits. It can reduce exposure to bad debt, which is money a business is unlikely to recover.

If Trade Shield can keep the index consistent and trusted, it may become a reference point for trade credit decisions. That could improve working capital planning, which is the day-to-day cash a business needs to keep operating.