Cairo, Egypt — Africa’s multilateral lender, African Export-Import Bank, marked the end of an era as President and Chairman of the Board, Professor Benedict Oramah, concluded his decade-long tenure with a legacy conference in Cairo attended by over 2,000 dignitaries, including African heads of state, business leaders, and policymakers on Friday.
Oramah, who took office in 2015, used his farewell address to underscore the philosophy that defined his leadership: the belief that Africa’s development must be driven from within.
“Our philosophy was borne out of the conviction that 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,” he said.
Over his 10-year tenure, Oramah repositioned Afreximbank as a central force in advancing intra-African trade and industrialisation. The bank’s assets and guarantees surged almost eight-fold, from $6 billion in 2015 to nearly $44 billion by September 2025. Under his leadership, Afreximbank became one of the key financial engines propelling the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
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Key achievements
Among his most notable achievements was the launch of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), backed by a $3 billion clearing facility, which now enables cross-border transactions in local currencies across 20 countries. Afreximbank also committed $1 billion to the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, helping member states adapt to the evolving trade regime.
Other milestones include the biennial Intra-African Trade Fair — initiated in 2018 — which has facilitated over $170 billion in trade and investment deals, and the creation of the Africa Trade Gateway, a digital platform bridging information gaps across the continent.
The bank also launched testing and certification centres harmonising nearly 500 product standards, addressing long-standing technical barriers to trade.
Oramah’s term coincided with landmark interventions such as Afreximbank’s $10 billion COVID-19 support package for African economies and a $2 billion fund to secure vaccines for the continent and the Caribbean. The bank also introduced the African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme, supported by $1 billion in guarantee limits, to ease movement of goods across borders.
“Under his leadership, Afreximbank and its partners built a solid foundation for intra-African trade and industrial development,” said Dr. George Elombi, the bank’s president-designate.
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He described Oramah as “one of the few who combine vision and execution,” crediting him with transforming decades-old aspirations into tangible gains for Africans.
Oramah’s legacy extends beyond economics. He championed the strengthening of socio-economic ties between Africa and the Caribbean, backed major industrial projects such as the Dangote Refinery, and spearheaded initiatives like the African Medical Centre of Excellence.
New subsidiary
In one of his final acts as president, Oramah launched the African Trade and Distribution Company (ATDC), designed to tackle logistical hurdles in cross-border trade.
Reflecting on his journey, Oramah said Afreximbank’s interventions have created “new institutional arrangements and formidable forces in Africa’s armoury in its fight towards true self-determination — things that were mere hopes and aspirations ten years ago.”
As the Cairo conference closed with tributes from political leaders, business executives, and colleagues, Oramah’s departure signaled the end of a transformative chapter for Afreximbank — and the beginning of a new era under Dr. Elombi’s leadership.
