Afreximbank’s strong results seal Oramah’s legacy as he prepares to retire

The African Export-Import Bank will be holding its next annual meetings in Abuja from 25 to 28 June, 2025. This should serve as a fitting coda to the tenure of Professor Benedict Oramah, the Bank’s third president and chairman, whose second and final term in charge of the multilateral development Bank comes to an end this year. 

Oramah, who joined the Bank as an analyst shortly after its founding in 1993, has helmed the trade finance institution since 2015, growing it into a multi-faceted group with an increasingly significant role in the continent’s development agenda. 

In a challenging environment marked by geopolitical tensions, high borrowing costs, debt sustainability concerns, and climate-related disruptions, Afreximbank maintained its strong performance streak, posting a profit of $215.4m for the first quarter of 2025, up from $178.7m in the same period last year. This strong profitability was underpinned by net interest income of $411.2m, up by 4.53% on the previous year despite a slight drop in overall interest income due to lower benchmark rates. 

Total assets and contingencies also rose to $42.7bn, a 6.4% increase from year-end 2024, driven by a 58% increase in cash balances, which reached $7.4bn, reflecting a successful fundraising effort and healthy loan repayments. On-balance-sheet assets grew by 4.85%, while contingent liabilities rose 18%, owing to increased demand for the Bank’s trade services.

Despite a slight decline in net loans and advances, down to $27.8bn from $29.0bn in December 2024 as a result of early sovereign repayments, the bank maintained strong asset quality, with a non-performing loans ratio of just 2.44%, slightly higher than 2.33% recorded at 31 December 2024. Its liquidity position also strengthened considerably, with liquid assets now comprising 20% of total assets, up from 13% at the end of 2024. 

Shareholders’ equity grew by 3.4% to reach $7.5bn on the back of greater internal profit retention and new equity subscriptions under the bank’s General Capital Increase II.

The Bank is poised to expand on its role in the continent, which has grown from its roots as a facilitator of trade to becoming one of the most reliable underwriters of the continent’s ambitions to boost industrialisation, local value addition and intra-continental trade. In response to the longstanding equity financing gap on the continent and the need to direct investment into growth-enabling industries, the bank launched the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) in 2021, with a mandate to provide patient equity capital for businesses with the potential for growth and scale. 

The fund focuses on manufacturing, logistics, agro-processing, financial services, and trade infrastructure, as well as backing investments in technology platforms and digital services. As of the first quarter of this year, the bank had deployed some $579m through FEDA, $565.3 of which was invested in 2024, into a variety of ventures that are driving growth and job creation across the continent. 

As one of the most vocal advocates of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and a strategic implementing partner, Oramah has led the bank into becoming one of the most fervent backers of the AfCFTA, with a number of supporting instruments that are easing trade across the continent’s many borders. 

The bank’s Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), deployed in conjunction with the AfCFTA secretariat, provides instant, real-time payments in local currencies, addressing one of the key challenges that cross-border traders face. With a growing presence on the continent, PAPSS is also expected to roll out in the Caribbean, further cementing trade links between the two regions. 

Additional support for the AfCFTA has also come through the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, which offers financial support to African countries to manage possible revenue losses as a result of tariff removals; and to private sector actors to boost their competitiveness. In addition, the bank’s Transit Guarantee Scheme, implemented in collaboration with regional economic communities and customs authorities, also facilitates the seamless movement of goods across borders by providing financial guarantees. This reduces delays and logistical costs, enabling African businesses – particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – to trade more efficiently across multiple jurisdictions. The bank is also implementing its Automotive Strategy, which is supporting the development of a viable automotive value chain across Africa. This includes support for component manufacturing, assembly plants, and supply chain development, laying the groundwork for Africa to become a competitive player in the global automotive market.

Still in pursuit of its mission and mandate to boost trade, the bank launched AfrexInsure, a wholly-owned subsidiary to provide specialty insurance solutions tailored for trade and trade-related investments across Africa. Unveiled during the 2023 AGM in Accra, Ghana, AfrexInsure proposes to cover the unique risks associated with trade and investments in Africa, benefiting from its parent company’s deep understanding of the continent. Since its launch, AfrexInsure has proven important in providing insurance coverage for significant projects, including facilitating all-risk construction insurance for the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Amongst the defining tenets of Oramah’s tenure has been his outreach to the Caribbean, seeking to leverage the historical and cultural links between the two regions into a grand global African 6th region initiative to pursue common goals and deliver shared prosperity, which was brought into sharp relief during the pandemic as the two regions came together in a successful vaccine purchasing programme. 

Afreximbank has since expanded its presence and participation in the Caribbean Community region, opening an office in Barbados and approving a $1.5bn funding facility open to members of the bank that have acceded to the bank’s partnership agreement. This partnership will be showcased once more when the bank, in partnership with the government of Grenada, hosts the fourth AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) in St. George’s, Grenada, from 28–29 July 2025. The 2025 edition will give businesses a chance to unlock new trade and investment avenues, as trade between the regions is projected to rise to $1.8bn by 2028. With an estimated 1,000 delegates, including heads of state, government officials, private sector leaders and investors from Africa, the Caribbean and beyond expected to attend, ACTIF 2025 will focus on minerals, processed foods, transportation, and other sectors with the potential to drive trade and investment between the two regions. 

With trade between the two regions accounting for less than 1% of combined total exports, ACTIF’s success will be a welcome boost to both regions and add an extra fillip to Afreximbank’s ambitions to not only promote, finance, and facilitate intra- and extra-African trade but to be a catalyst for Africa’s and the Caribbean’s economic transformation.