By Etienne Mainimo Mengnjo
Cameroonian born Dr. George Elombi has been sworn in as the African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) fourth President and chairman of the board of directors. He recently took over from Prof. Benedict Oramah as head of the African multilateral finance institution.
The investiture ceremony was formalized with an oath administered by Wale Edun, chairman of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the bank and Nigeria’s minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy.
It was witnessed by more than 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, shareholders, staff, and a host of other dignitaries.
In his inaugural address, Elombi announced his commitment to carrying forward the legacy of the bank’s past, deepening impact, strengthening partnerships, and continuing 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 was disfavorable to Africa because it was too dependent on the export of commodities. “Our mission is therefore, to transform the structure of that trade,” he said. “To change the structure, we must process. We must produce. Unless we produce, we cannot trade.”
President Elombi announced that, over the next five to 10 years, he would prioritize sectors he believed would have the most significant and sustained impact on Africa’s trade and well-being. This includes 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 or finished goods,” he said. “We will establish a Strategic Minerals Development Program 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.”
Elombi added that Afreximbank would prioritize the deepening of intra-African trade and regional integration, as the success of its value addition agenda would 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 programs and initiatives developed over the past decade and by introducing new, targeted interventions, where necessary, to accelerate progress.”
Dr George Elombi is a Cameroonian economist and long-serving executive of Afreximbank. A member of the bank since 1996, he has been instrumental in shaping the group, enhancing its capital base, and coordinating crisis responses in Africa and the Caribbean.
