Afreximbank president bags Diaspora network award
President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Prof. Benedict Oramah received the 2019 African Renaissance and Diaspora Network Private Sector Development Award at the United Nations.
The award presented by the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN) during the “Africa: Open for Business Summit” on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, celebrates leadership for and from the African continent in pursuit of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
In a citation preceding the award, Constance Newman, chairman of ARDN and a former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said that Prof. Oramah was selected as the 2019 recipient in recognition of his exemplary leadership in the fields of trade, trade finance and economics, and as a scholar and prolific writer.
“As the leader of Afreximbank, you have not only overseen the strengthening of trade activities throughout Africa, you have also played pivotal roles in the application of the Bank’s expertise to support humanitarian emergency relief programmes,” she said.
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Ms. Newman also cited his achievement in the “development of the bank’s health and medical tourism programme, working with international partners to foster the emergence of world class medical facilities and research centers across Africa designed to improve life expectancy as well as stem the outflow of billions in foreign exchange.”
In an acceptance speech, Prof. Oramah said that he sees the award as a call to action to do more to support Africa’s effort to achieve economic growth, arguing that Africa needed economic independence as political independence was not enough.
He said that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is an attempt to enable Africa to achieve economic independence, announcing that Afreximbank planned to disburse about $25 billion toward intra-African trade during its current strategic plan period.
Afreximbank had also set aside $1 billion as an adjustment facility to assist countries that might be impacted negatively by the takeoff of the AfCFTA to enable them adjusts in an orderly manner, added the bank’s president.
