The African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Cairo has marked the end of Prof. Benedict Oramah’s tenure as President and Chairman of the Board with a legacy conference attended by more than 2,000 guests, including heads of state, former presidents, senior government officials, business leaders and past presidents of the Bank.
In a farewell address, Prof. Oramah said he made the promotion of intra-African trade and investment the centrepiece of his strategy because “the only viable path forward for Africa’s development and economic emancipation was one that would aggressively reverse-engineer the colonial strategy of ‘divide-and-rule’ and ‘divide-and-conquer’ that had, for decades, pinned Africa and people of African descent down in the dustbin of despair and desperation.”
“Our philosophy was that Africa’s development dynamo must be powered from within, as hundreds of years of history, had shown us that external interests had been mostly predatory and parasitic, unless engaged from a position of strength and purpose,” he said. Because the Bank fought on “all fronts”, he added, “we can point to those things that now exist, many of which were mere hopes and aspirations, 10 years ago.”
Afreximbank President Designate Dr George Elombi described Prof. Oramah as “one of the few in the world, the 0.8 per ent, who combines vision and execution”, saying that under his leadership the Bank and its partners “built a solid foundation for enhancing intra-African trade and industrial development.” He said “Oramah has turned decades and centuries-old political wishes into tangible gains for all Africans.”
Prof. Oramah’s tenure, which began in September 2015, saw Afreximbank’s balance sheet and guarantees grow from US$6 billion to nearly US$44 billion by September 2025. Over the decade, the Bank introduced instruments and institutions to support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), launched the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, backed the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, created the biennial Intra-African Trade Fair, expanded industrial parks and special economic zones, harmonised standards across sectors, and built mechanisms to dismantle transit and logistical barriers.
Afreximbank also executed pandemic-era interventions, disbursing more than US$10 billion during COVID-19 and providing US$2 billion for vaccine procurement. It deepened Africa–Caricom commercial and cultural ties and launched the African Trade and Distribution Company to address cross-border logistics.
Tributes from staff, political leaders, business executives and international partners described the outgoing President’s tenure as catalytic in repositioning the Bank as a central instrument in the continent’s trade and industrial transformation.
