Shareholders of Afreximbank have voted and re- appointed Benedict Oramah as President of the Pan-African multilateral financial institution for a second 5-year term.
The decision was announced in Cairo, following Afreximbank’s 27th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders which was held by the circulation of resolutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
In his acceptance statement released shortly thereafter, the re-appointed President told shareholders that the Bank’s ultimate goal under his second term in office was the realization of Africa’s strategic ambition to create an integrated market.
“We want an Africa where the foundations of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) are laid expeditiously so that the 84,000 kilometres of borders that have divided us for ages can begin to come down. AFCFTA would drive the industrialization of Africa, support the emergence of regional value chains, turn Africa’s creative and cultural assets into engines of growth, grow jobs for the continent’s youth, convey respect to Africans wherever they may be and better prepare the continent to compete more effectively in the global markets,” he said.
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Oramah noted that between 2015 and 2019, Afreximbank disbursed more than $30 billion in support of African trade, with over $15 billion channelled towards the financing and promotion of intra-african trade.
A resolution proposing the re-election of Stefan-luis Francois Nalletam as a director representing Class A Shareholders, and Kee Chong Li Kwong Wing as a director representing Class B Shareholders was also approved by the meeting.
The shareholders also approved the 2019 audited accounts as well as the proposal to raise an additional $500 million in equity within Afreximbank’s current strategic plan called Impact 2021 Africa transformed.
The Bank was established in Abuja, Nigeria in October, 1993 by African Governments, African private and institutional investors as well as non-african financial institutions and private investors for the purpose of financing, promoting and expanding intra-african and extra-african trade.
The Bank, headquartered in Cairo, the capital of the Arab Republic of Egypt, commenced operations on 30 September, 1994, following the signature of a Headquarters Agreement with the host Government in August, 1994.
