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Business Reporter
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) president Professor Benedict Oramah was this week awarded Forbes Africa’s magazine 2023 Person of The Year.
The award recognises the stellar accomplishments of leading Africans contributing to the development of the continent, according to Dr Rakesh Wahi, Forbes Africa founder and publisher, and Roberta Naicker, the managing director.
“With a career spanning three decades at Afreximbank, Prof Benedict Oramah is a true pan-Africanist,” said Renuka Methil, Managing Editor of Forbes Africa.
“In our almost hour-long interview Prof. Oramah’s stellar track record, coupled with his unbridled enthusiasm, passion, and contribution to the economic development of Africa shone through.
“Amongst many initiatives under his visionary leadership, Afreximbank launched the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which will be a historic project for cross-border payments in local African currencies. He is a resilient risk-taker and articulated so well what a new united Africa should, and would, look like,” added Ms Renuka Methil.”
Nominations for Forbes Africa Person of The Year are submitted by members of the magazine’s editorial and research teams, including journalists from its bureaus across Africa, and a winner is selected after an Africa-wide review of the prominent contributors to the continent. Prof Oramah’s name was shortlisted and unanimously adjudged the winner for 2023.
With the award, Prof Oramah joins a prestigious list of high achievers who had previously received the award, including Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Governor of Nigeria’s central bank; Dr James Mwangi, CEO of Equity Group; Dr Akinwumi Adesina, president, African Development Bank; Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Group; Mohammed Dewji, president, MeTL Group; and Thuli Madonsela, former Public Protector of South Africa.
On November 18, Prof Oramah also received the Zik Prize in Professional Leadership at an event in Lagos, Nigeria. He is also a recipient of numerous other awards for his contributions to the development and promotion of trade in Africa, and for the many initiatives he has championed to drive intra-African trade.
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade.
For 30 years, the bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.
A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA.
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