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Oramah Becomes Afreximbank Dr. Benedict Oramah to be the next President of the continental multilateral trade finance institution.
Dr Oramah today became the third president to serve the bank since its establishment in 1993,he was sworn in Cairo few minutes after his appointment by the bank board in June this year.
Oramah’s appointment was one of the key decisions taken during the bank’s 22nd Annual General Meeting of Shareholders which held in Lusaka.
Oramah takes over from Jean-Louis Ekra, who has been the bank’s chief executive officer since 2005. Mr. Ekra was preceded in the post by Christopher Edordu, the pioneer President of the bank.
Oramah, a Nigerian, has served as Executive Vice President in charge of Business Development and Corporate Banking at Afreximbank since 2008. He was a pioneer staff of the bank, which he joined in 1994 as Chief Analyst, rising to the position of Senior Director, Planning and Business Development Department in 2007. He previously served as Assistant Manager (Research) at the Nigerian Export-Import Bank from 1992 to 1994.
In an acceptance speech following the appointment, Oramah said that the shareholders should leave the Annual General Meeting confident that they had made the right decision, explaining, “I may not be a shareholder of your bank, but my interests in the bank are fully aligned with yours.
“I have invested most of my adult life in your bank: I made important contributions in the establishment and development of the bank so I have a vested interest in its survival and growth. Your bank exposed me to the world; and above all, about two years ago, your bank saved my life. So there can be no sacrifice too great for me to make for your bank. I step into the new role with courage and loyalty founded on these facts.” Also today, Dr. Denny Kalyalya, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, was elected Chairman of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, replacing Marcelin Agaya, Vice Minister for the Economy of Gabon, who had held the chairmanship since the last Annual General Meeting held in Lusaka.
