Photo Caption: Prof. Bennedict Oramah, outgoing President (left) in a handshake with Dr. George Elombi, his successor as President of the African Export-Import Bank Group
Shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), on Saturday announced the appointment of Dr. George Elombi as the next President and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
The Cameroonian, who joined Afreximbank in 1996 as a Legal Officer, will replace Prof. Bennedict Oramah as the fourth President to lead the bank since its establishment in 1993.
This was one of the key decisions of the 32nd Afreximbank group annual meetings and associated events held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 25 to 28 June, with the formal annual general meeting of shareholders taking place on Saturday, 28 June 2025.
Oramah will complete his 10-year two terms and will be stepping down in September 2025.
Before joining Afreximbank, Elomba was a law teacher at the University of Hull, United Kingdom.
In the thirty years that followed, Elombi rose through the ranks to become Executive Vice President, Governance, Legal and Corporate Services, and served as Senior Legal Officer (2001–2003); Chief Legal Officer (2003–2008); Deputy Director, Legal Services/Executive Secretary (2008–2010); and thereafter, Director and Executive Secretary (2010–2015).
A statement by the bank said Elombi played a pivotal role in establishing Afreximbank group’s structure, including the formation of key subsidiaries that have expanded the Bank’s capacity to deliver on its mandate.
As Chair of the Emergency Response Committee, he led the Bank’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, mobilising over $2bn for vaccine acquisition and deployment across African and Caribbean nations.
Under his supervision of the Equity Mobilisation and Investor Relations department, the Bank’s total ordinary equity mobilised amounted to USD 3.6 billion as at April 2025.
His appointment followed a rigorous selection process initiated in January 2025, which included a global call for applications published in international media and on the Afreximbank website. Shortlisted candidates were interviewed by an international human resource executive search firm, following which top candidates were presented to the Board, which recommended Dr. Elombi to the General Meeting of Shareholders for final approval.
According to the Afreximbank Charter, a president is appointed by the general meeting of shareholders upon the recommendation of the Board of Directors for a term of five years, renewable once.
Accepting his appointment, Dr. Elombi expressed a deep commitment to the Bank’s mission and future, recalling the period when he “worked alongside remarkable colleagues and extraordinary leaders to help shape this institution’s vision, its mandate as well as its growth. As we look to the future, I see Afreximbank as a force for industrialising Africa and for re-gaining the dignity of Africans wherever they are. I will work to preserve this important asset.”
He accepted the shareholders’ desire as expressed by his predecessor to make the institution a US$250bn bank in ten years.
He holds of a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the London School of Economics, University of London, and a Ph.D. in commercial arbitration from the same university, and a ‘Maitrise-en-Droit’ from the University of Yaoundé in 1989.
