in Abuja, Nigeria
Dr George Elombi has been appointed the next president and chairman of the board of directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), succeeding Professor Benedict Oramah who, among other things, was the driving force behind reconnecting the Caribbean with the ancestral African continent.
Elombi will officially assume the position from September 28.
During Oramah’s time at the helm, 12 CARICOM members signed on as partners with the Pan-African development institution, with another expected to join next month.
Elombi, who becomes the fourth president to lead the bank since its establishment in 1993, was introduced in his new role on Saturday during a press conference at the Transcorp Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria.
His appointment was one of the key decisions of the 32nd Afreximbank group annual meetings and associated events held in Abuja from June 25 to 28, with the formal annual general meeting of shareholders taking place on Saturday.
At the press conference, he said from the decisions of the shareholders’ meeting they had affirmed the work of the bank in the last ten years and were pleased with its financial position, projects and interventions.
“They are reaffirming their support for Afreximbank and their desire to continue to honour the obligations they entered into in the treaty establishing the institution,” he told journalists.
A Cameroonian, Elombi has been with Afreximbank since 1996, joining as a legal officer and rising through the ranks to become executive vice-president, governance, legal and corporate services. He has served as director and executive secretary (2010-2015); deputy director, legal services/executive secretary (2008-2010); chief legal officer (2003-2008); and senior legal officer (2001-2003).
To his predecessor, who was sitting next to him, Elombi said another significant occurrence during the shareholders meeting was the resounding applause for Oramah and his level of intervention.
‘“The best way to say thanks to you is to seek to do a little more than you did,” Elombi said, adding the mandate of the bank is to change the structure of trade to face development head-on, which it had been doing over the last few years.
“That we cannot relinquish on, we have to carry on that effort. That’s going to be the priority,” he said.
That meant dealing with the sea port terminals, the power station, the infrastructure, capital and human resources needed to process the minerals.
“When that is done, our continent will be transformed,” Elombi stated.
The incoming president, prior to joining Afreximbank, taught law at the University of Hull, United Kingdom.
He 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 more than US$2 billion 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 US$3.6 billion as at April 2025.
In his acceptance speech, Elombi expressed a deep commitment to the bank’s mission and future.
“I have 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 regaining 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$250 billion bank in ten years.
Elombi holds a master of laws from the London School of Economics, University of London, and a PhD in commercial arbitration from the same university. He obtained a ‘Maitrise-en-Droit’ from the University of Yaoundé in 1989.
His appointment followed a rigorous selection process initiated in January, which included a global call for applications also published in the international media. Shortlisted candidates were interviewed by an international human resource executive search firm. The top candidates were presented to the board of directors, which recommended Elombi to the general meeting of shareholders for final approval.
Under 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.
Antoinette Connell is in Abuja, Nigeria, sponsored by Afreximbank, covering the bank’s 32nd annual meetings.
