Prof. Benedict O. Oramah
President and Chairman of Board of Directors | African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)
Prof. Benedict O. Oramah is the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export – Import Bank (“Afreximbank” or the “Bank”). As the President of Afreximbank, Prof Oramah has significantly grown the Bank and increased its global appeal. The Bank is playing a leading role in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
Prof Oramah has led the creation of digital platforms that are expected to boost intra-regional trade and revolutionize cross border payments in Africa. Under his leadership, Afreximbank is supporting the harmonization of standards and the development of quality infrastructure across Africa. It has also started implementing the Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme for Africa to make it easier and more efficient to move goods across the Continent. Prof. Oramah is currently actively supporting the continental response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through direct financing to African public and private sector, the Bank is helping to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic. As the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the African Union COVID-19 Response Fund, President Oramah is helping to coordinate grant mobilization and efficient utilization across Africa as well as coordinating the efficient procurement and distribution of medical materials among African countries. He is also leading other continental and private sector initiatives to scale up Africa’s health and economic response to the pandemic.
Prof. Oramah was recently decorated by H.E. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russia Federation, with the Russian State award of the Order of Friendship and by the Cameroonian Government with the “Knight of the National Order”. He was also voted African Banker of the year by the African Banker Magazine in 2017. And in December 2019, he received an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
