ABUJA, Nigeria, CMC – Professor Benedict O. Oramah on Friday ended his 10-year stint as president and chairman of the board of administrators of the Egypt-based African Export-Import Financial institution (Afreximbank), hailing the monetary establishment’s enlargement to the Caribbean during the last 4 years.
“The array of political and enterprise leaders who’ve joined us from the Caribbean speaks volumes concerning the progress we’ve got made with our outreach to our pals, brothers, and sisters within the CARICOM,” he mentioned on the thirty second Afreximbank Annual Conferences (AAM2025) that ends right here on Saturday.
“Over the previous 4 years, we’ve got considerably superior business and cultural linkages inside International Africa,” he mentioned, referring to the idea that acknowledges folks of African descent the world over as a part of Africa.
The annual conferences are being attended by the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Davis, in addition to his counterparts from St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Terrance Drew, and Grenada, Dickon Mitchell.
The Secretary Basic of the 15-member Caribbean Neighborhood (CARICOM), Dr. Carla Barnett, Grenada’s Legal professional Basic, Minister for Authorized Affairs, Labour and Client Affairs, Claudette Joseph, former Jamaica prime minister, PJ Patterson, and the chief govt officer of the Barbados-based CARICOM Improvement Fund (CDF), Rodinald Soomer, are additionally attending and made interventions at AAM2025.
“Our profitable outreach inside the Caribbean has led to 12 CARICOM states changing into companion members of the financial institution, with the thirteenth scheduled to hitch subsequent week,” Oramah mentioned however didn’t title the nation.
On the opening day of the convention on Wednesday, Okechukwu Ihejirika, the performing head of Afreximbank within the Caribbean, instructed Caribbean reporters overlaying AAM2025 that Afreximbank is excited about doing enterprise in all CARICOM nations.
“So the enterprise is ramping up progressively, and I’m blissful as effectively to say. Hopefully, we should always welcome the opposite massive islands, by way of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, to finish the fold that we’ll have the complete complement of the Caribbean out there for us to service,” he had mentioned.
Throughout his wide-ranging speech, Oramah famous the institution of the Afreximbank Caribbean Workplace in Bridgetown and the following groundbreaking in March for the development of the financial institution’s African Commerce Centre there, which might change into the primary exterior of Africa.
He mentioned that different notable achievements embody the institution of the Africa-Caribbean Enterprise Council (ACBC) and the launch of the AfriCaribbean Commerce and Funding Discussion board (ACTIF) in 2023, with this yr’s version scheduled to happen in Grenada from July 28 to 29.
“On the enterprise entrance, your financial institution has permitted and disbursed tens of millions of US {dollars} and disbursed tens of millions of {dollars} to The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, and St. Lucia.”
He said that in Suriname, Afreximbank serves because the coordinator and a mandated lead arranger of a US$1.6 billion syndicated facility to the state oil firm, Staatsolie, for its acquisition of a major stake within the main oil discovery made by the French multinational built-in power and petroleum firm, Complete Energies SE.
In Guyana, Afreximbank is working with the authorities to implement a one billion US greenback Native Content material Assist Facility to spice up the home affect of the numerous oil.
Manufacturing there.
“Afreximbank can also be working with the Caribbean Improvement Fund, the primary CARICOM shareholders of the financial institution, to introduce a Resilience and Sustainability Facility for the CARICOM,” Oramah mentioned.
He acknowledged and thanked the sturdy contingent of political and enterprise leaders from CARICOM attending the annual assembly.
The annual conferences had come full circle, having been held on the identical resort the place they have been first held in 1993, about the identical time that Oramah, a Nigerian who holds doctoral and grasp’s levels in agricultural economics from Obafemi Awolowo College in Nigeria, joined the financial institution.
Oramah mentioned that when the brand new president is appointed on Saturday, Abujah will make historical past as the town the place three of Afreximbank’s 4 presidents have been appointed.
He famous that in June 2015, in Lusaka, Zambia, shareholders elected him unanimously because the third president of Afreximbank.
Oramah mentioned that in his acceptance speech, he made a solemn promise to shareholders to” ship a stable financial institution that will probably be a pacesetter amongst its friends in all measures of monetary efficiency.”
He had additionally promised to extend the financial institution’s capital in absolute phrases quickly, improve capitalization via modern capital administration initiatives, guarantee top-notch threat administration, and obtain passable returns for shareholders.
Oramah additionally detailed the opposite commitments he had made then, including that he had mentioned there could be no sacrifice too nice for him to make “for a financial institution that saved my life.
“I stand earlier than you most happy and fulfilled that I saved my guarantees. I gave the job the most effective of my power, mind, braveness, and dedication,” Oramah mentioned.
He knowledgeable the annual assembly that, because of this, between 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Could 2025, with the sturdy help of shareholders, Afreximbank had invested roughly US$120 billion in Africa and the Caribbean and US$155 billion during the last decade.
“These should rank among the many highest by any requirements. We’ve got collectively, over the previous decade, constructed a stable monetary establishment that’s good for International Africa.”
He identified that Afreximbank’s complete property and ensures grew greater than eightfold between September 2015 and April 2025, reaching US$43.5 billion.
Complete revenues additionally rose sevenfold, reaching US$3.24 billion, up from US$408 million in 2025. Internet earnings amounted to roughly US$1 billion in 2024, representing a 700 p.c improve from its degree of US$125 million in 2015.
Inner capital era, mixed with substantial shareholder help via important extra fairness investments, resulted in an increase in shareholders’ funds from roughly US$1 billion in September 2015 to US$7.5 billion as of April 2025. Callable capital additionally elevated from US$450 million in September 2015 to US$4.5 billion.
Oramah said that liquidity remained sturdy, with sources of funding way more diversified in 2024 than in 2015 as a result of actions of the Africa Useful resource Mobilisation Unit, which noticed the share of African sources of funding rise from 11.7 p.c in 2015 to 36.6 p.c in Could 2025.
He knowledgeable the annual assembly that, regardless of the difficult working surroundings, the Financial institution Group was capable of proceed its custom of returning worth to shareholders via annual dividend distributions.
Mixture dividend funds from 2015 to 2024 reached US$1.35 billion.
“Right this moment, Afreximbank has change into the trusted establishment for mitigating the adversarial impacts of financial shocks and the first supply of significant medium- to long-term financing for the African non-public sector and important sectors of the African financial system,” he mentioned.
The outgoing president identified that the trajectory of progress and relevance didn’t begin with him however as an alternative goes again to my predecessors, who grew the Financial institution a number of instances from the place they discovered it.
He mentioned that is why he regards Afreximbank as having at least US$250 billion in complete property and ensures by the tip of his successor’s tenure, which will probably be 10 years from now.
“I don’t doubt that we’d see that given the energy, depth, and scope of the Financial institution Group as we speak. And we should help and work in the direction of the attainment of that imaginative and prescient as a result of it’s by our proudly owning and controlling a financial institution of that measurement that Africa can hope to flee from the disgrace of poverty and underdevelopment,” Oramah mentioned.
He mentioned he was impressed by the rigor with which the Board of Administrators chosen the candidate they’re recommending to shareholders as his successor.
“I urge you all to proceed your sturdy help for the Financial institution and its new management after my exit out of your nice financial institution,” Oramah mentioned.
Throughout Friday’s ceremony, the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, conferred the Grand Commander of the Niger honor on Oramah, the second-highest honor in Nigeria.
