Afreximbank swears in Dr George Elombi as 4th President

– pledges prioritising sectors to have most impact on Africa’s trade, wellbeing

Dr George Elombi was on Saturday last sworn in as the fourth President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, taking over from Prof. Benedict Oramah, who has led the Pan-African institution since 2015 in Cairo, Egypt. Dr Elombi brings nearly three decades of experience at the bank, having joined Afreximbank in 1996 and rising through the ranks to become Executive Vice President (VP), Governance, Legal and Corporate Services. The appointment comes as Afreximbank delivered exceptional 2024 financial performance, posting a net income of US$973.5 million for FY 2024, a 29 per cent increase from the previous year. The Cairo-based institution has expanded its assets to over $40 billion while extending operations across 54 African countries and 12 Caribbean nations.
The oath was administered by 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 in the presence of over 2,000 guests. In an inaugural address following the swearing in, The Cameroonian national and seasoned executive announced his unwavering commitment to carrying forward the legacy of the Bank’s past, to deepening impact, strengthening partnerships, and continuing the mission of building an Africa that trades with itself and thrives on its own terms. Dr Elombi pointed out that the structure of global trade was unfavourable to Africa and therefore, had to change as it was too dependent on the export of commodities, saying: “our mission is therefore, to transform the structure of that trade. To change the structure, we must process. We must produce. Unless we produce, we cannot trade.” Elombi announced that, over the next five to 10 years, he would prioritise sectors he believed 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.”
He 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 recognise 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. The bank’s reach now extends across the Atlantic to the Caribbean region, where 12 of the 15 CARICOM countries have signed the Bank’s Participating Agreement, paving the way for Afreximbank to expand its operations into the region. This expansion reflects the institution’s broader vision of connecting African and diaspora economies. The bank hosted the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum back in July in Grenada which support the institution’s goal of facilitating trade relationships between Africa and its diaspora communities.