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African Export-import Bank (Afreximbank) has sworn in Dr. George Elombi as the Bank’s fourth President and Chairman of the Board of Directors. He takes over from Prof. Benedict Oramah as head of the African Multilateral Finance Institution.
Formalised with an oath administered by the Chairman of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Bank and Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy of Nigeria, Wale Edun, the investiture ceremony was witnessed by over 2,000 guests, including heads of state, former heads of state, government leaders and representatives from across Africa and the Caribbean, top African business leaders, all former Afreximbank Presidents, members of the Bank’s Board of Directors, shareholders, serving and former staff members, friends and family of Dr. Elombi.
In an inaugural address, Dr. Elombi made known his commitment to carry forward the legacy of the Bank, to deepen its impact, strengthen partnerships, and continue the mission of building an Africa that trades with itself and thrives on its own terms.
He pointed out that the structure of global trade is disfavourable to Africa and has to change as it is too dependent on the export of commodities. He said: “Our mission is to transform the structure of that trade and to change the structure, we must produce. Unless we produce, we cannot trade,” he said.
Elombi stated that over the next five to 10 years, he would prioritise sectors he believes would have the most significant and sustained impact on Africa’s trade and wellbeing, including promoting and accelerating value addition and strategic minerals processing to curb the export of raw potential.
“Afreximbank will therefore, create a new, high-impact financing window, specifically for projects that process raw minerals into semi-finished goods or finished goods,” he said.
“We will establish a Strategic Minerals Development Programme to finance entire value chains, from extraction and refining to manufacturing finished components, capturing much more value here at home and creating high-skilled jobs for our people.”
Dr. Elombi added that Afreximbank would prioritise the deepening of intra-African trade and regional integration as the success of its value addition agenda would ultimately depend on its ability to secure markets for the goods produced.
“We will intensify efforts to break down trade barriers, strengthen cross-border infrastructure, and foster seamless movement of goods, services, people, and capital across our continent,” he said. “Afreximbank will therefore, continue to play a catalytic role in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) by driving forward key programmes and initiatives developed over the past decade and by introducing new, targeted interventions, where necessary, to accelerate progress.”
Other priorities outlined by Dr. Elombi include catalysing and building critical trade-enabling infrastructure; leveraging innovation and digital technology, including exploring the creation of a Pan-African Digital Currency, strengthening financial integration and innovation across the continent; and mobilising global African capital.
The Bank would also prioritise its financial strength in recognition that “only a strong and well-capitalised institution can make the scale of interventions required to transform Africa’s trade and development landscape,” Dr. Elombi said, adding that priority would also go to growing strategic and innovative partnerships since partnerships with relevant development institutions was central to the Bank’s mission of advancing Africa’s trade and economic transformation.
“We recognize that Africa’s progress depends not only on the strength of individual institutions, but also on the power of collaboration among them,” stated Dr. Elombi.
President Elombi noted the increasingly hostile narrative targeted at African multilateral institutions owned and controlled by Africans “not because we fail or are seen as another African failure” but “because we are successful” and added that, unlike other multilateral institutions, Afreximbank’s preferred creditor status was not granted out of goodwill or benevolence of governments but was enshrined in the Bank’s Establishment Treaty which is signed by all Member States, Dr. Elombi explained.
The investiture also featured remarks by Mr. Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Hon. Louis-Paul Motazé, Minister of Finance of Cameroon, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Founder, Dangote Group, Ms. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission and Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
