Shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have voted to re-appoint Benedict Oramah as President of the pan-African, multilateral financial institution for a second five-year term.
The decision was announced on Sunday in Cairo, following Afreximbank’s 27th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders which was held through a circulation of resolutions due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“We want an Africa where the foundations of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) are promptly laid, so that the 84,000km of borders that have divided us for ages can begin to come down,” said Oramah.
He added that AfCFTA would drive Africa’s industrialisation, support the emergence of regional value chains, and turn the continent’s creative and cultural assets into engines of growth. The agreement is also anticipated to grow jobs for African youth, whilst also better preparing the continent to compete more effectively in global markets.
Oramah highlighted that between 2015 and 2019, Afreximbank disbursed over $30bn in support of African trade, with over $15bn channelled towards the financing and promotion of intra-African trade.
“We will aim to double intra-African trade financing so that by the end of my term, it will constitute no less than 40% of the bank’s total assets, with aggregate disbursements, on a revolving basis, over the five years exceeding $30bn,” he announced.
In office since 2015, Oramah’s re-appointment was one of the key decisions taken by shareholders during the bank’s 2020 General Meeting.
A resolution proposing the re-election of Stefan-Luis Francois Nalletamby as a director representing Class “A” Shareholders, and Kee Chong Li Kwong Wing as a director representing Class “B” Sharefolders, was also approved by the meeting.
The 2019 audited accounts were also approved, as well as the proposal to raise an additional $500m in equity within the Afreximbank’s current Strategic Plan dubbed “IMPACT 2021-Africa transformed”.
The approval to raise additional equity was in recognition that an amount of $1bn earlier authorised to be mobilised had almost been fully raised.
