Afreximbank Re-appoints Nigeria’s Benedict Oramah as President

• The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has re-appointed Prof. Benedict Oramah as President for the second five-year term.
• Accepting the re-appointment, Prof. Oramah told shareholders that the Bank’s ultimate goal in his second term of office was to realise Africa’s strategic ambition to create an integrated market.
• The re-appointed president stressed that between 2015 and 2019, Afreximbank spent more than US$ 30 billion to support African trade, channelling more than US$ 15 billion to finance intra-African trade.

The shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), have re-appointed Prof. Benedict Oramah as President of the Pan-African Multilateral Financial Institution for the second five-year term.

The decision was revealed in Cairo, following the 27th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held by Afreximbank on the occasion of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was announced in a press statement released by the bank on Sunday, June 14, 2020.

Whilst accepting the re-appointment shortly after, Prof. Oramah told shareholders that the Bank’s ultimate goal in his second term of office was to realise Africa’s strategic ambition to create an integrated market.

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According to him, “We want an Africa where the foundations of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) are laid expeditiously so that the 84,000 kilometres of borders that have divided us for ages can begin to come down. AfCFTA would drive the industrialization of Africa, support the emergence of regional value chains, turn Africa’s creative and cultural assets into engines of growth, grow jobs for the continent’s youth, convey respect to Africans wherever they may be and better prepare the continent to compete more effectively in the global markets.”

Prof. Oramah stressed that between 2015 and 2019, Afreximbank spent more than US$ 30 billion to support African trade, channelling more than US$ 15 billion to finance and promote intra-African trade.

The meeting also approved a resolution proposing the re-election of Mr. Stefan-Luis Francois Nalletam as Director representing Class A Shareholders and Mr. Kee Chong Li Kwong Wing as Director representing Class B Shareholders.

The shareholders also authorised the audited accounts for 2019, as well as the proposal to generate an additional $500 million in equity under the current strategic plan called Impact 2021 Africa transformed by the African Export-Import Bank.

The approval to raise additional equity was in awareness that the amount of US$1 billion previously authorised to be mobilised had almost been fully raised.

The president, while assuring the bank’s shareholders said, “I make a commitment that with your support, the bank will remain well-capitalised throughout my term of office and beyond. We will continue our efforts to diversify sources of equity to include the markets while ensuring that the Bank’s development focus remains unchanged.”