President Tinubu on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, awarded Prof. Oramah one of Nigeria’s highest state commendations: The Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON)
Professor Benedict Okechukwu Oramah, CON, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) has taken a bow from serving at the helm of the institution for the last decade; a period that has been touted as transformational and exceptional.
While giving his closing speech during the AAM2025, Professor Oramah took the audience down memory lane, from June 2015 when shareholders gave him a leadership mandate in Lusaka, Zambia, saying that; “In my acceptance speech, I made a solemn promise to the shareholders, to deliver a solid bank that will be a leader among its peers in all measures of financial performance to quickly grow the capital of the Bank in absolute terms, to improve capitalisation through innovative capital management initiatives to ensure first-class risk management, and achieve adequate returns to shareholders.”
Professor Oramah highlighted the achievements of the Bank during his tenure, some under very extreme situations, citing the financial rise thus “we have collectively, over the past decade, built a solid financial institution that is good for Global Africa. Total assets and guarantees grew more than eight-fold between September 2015 and April 2025, to reach 43.5 billion US dollars. Total Revenues also rose seven-fold, reaching 3.24 billion US dollars, from 408 million US dollars in 2025. Net income amounted to about 1 billion US dollars last year, about 700% increase, from its level of 125 million US dollars in 2015. Internal capital generation and very strong support of shareholders through significant additional equity investments, saw shareholders’ funds rise from about 1 billion US dollars in September 2015 to 7.5 billion US dollars in April 2025, with callable capital reaching 4.5 billion US dollars from 450 million US dollars in September 2015. Liquidity remained strong, with sources of funding much more diversified in 2024 than in 2015, due to activities of the Africa Resource Mobilisation Unit, which saw the share of African sources of funding rise from 11.7 percent in 2015 to 36.6 percent in May 2025.”
” We have collectively, over the past decade, built a solid financial institution that is good for Global Africa “
Going forward, Prof Oramah said that the Bank would like to give priority to the financing and promoting of high-value exports that have the capability of stabilising export revenues and creating jobs thereby raising and stabilising trade and economy in Africa.
H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who spoke at the official opening ceremony, appreciated the contribution of Afreximbank to the growth and stability of the economy of Nigeria and by extension Africa at large, saying “Nigeria’s collaboration with Afreximbank is expanding in both scope and breadth through various avenues including but not limited to the oil industry, and food production through fertilizer manufacturer through financing and Nigeria appreciates Afreximbank as a strategic partner in co creation which positively impacts the lives of Africans and helps transform the Continent.”
In recognition of the outstanding work done my Professor Oramah over the last 10 years and in the last 3 decades at Afreximbank, President Tinubu on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, awarded Prof. Oramah one of Nigeria’s highest state commendations: The Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
