There are Nigerians who make headlines, and there are Nigerians who make history. Professor Benedict Okey Oramah, the quiet but formidable mind behind the rise of the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), belongs to the latter. His journey from the classrooms of Nigeria to the commanding heights of continental finance is not just a story of personal success, it is the story of a nation’s brilliance shaping Africa’s destiny.
Born in Ahoada, Rivers State, and educated at the prestigious University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University, Oramah’s academic foundation was steeped in Nigeria’s tradition of intellectual excellence. But it was his foresight, forged in the crucible of Nigerian resilience and enterprise, that would later transform Afreximbank into one of the most powerful development institutions on the continent.
When he joined the Bank in 1994 as a Chief Analyst, few could have imagined that he would rise to re-engineer its DNA. By the time he became President and Chairman of the Board in 2015, Afreximbank was already respected. Under Oramah, it became transformational. His conviction was bold and simple: Africa must trade with itself, finance itself, and grow through its own ingenuity. It was the kind of confidence one only finds in Nigerians, a nation that has learned to turn limitations into leadership.
During his tenure, Afreximbank’s assets soared from about US $6 billion in 2015 to more than US $40 billion by 2025, but those figures tell only part of the story. What Oramah achieved was far deeper. He recast the Bank from a mere financier into a builder of systems, a catalyst for continental integration and industrialisation. His leadership was a masterclass in turning bold vision into working infrastructure, in marrying intellect with institution.
At the heart of that transformation were two groundbreaking initiatives that now define the architecture of Africa’s trade future: the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) and the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA).
Through PAPSS, Oramah solved one of Africa’s oldest headaches; cross-border payments. Before PAPSS, an exporter in Lagos who sold goods to Accra often had to settle transactions through the dollar or euro, losing time and money. Today, thanks to PAPSS, that payment can be made instantly in local currencies. It is a distinctly African solution, built by African minds, under Nigerian leadership. The system connects commercial banks, payment providers, and central banks, with Afreximbank acting as settlement agent and guarantor. By 2025, PAPSS had been adopted in 16 African countries and was saving the continent billions of dollars in conversion and transfer costs each year. It is, in truth, Africa’s first real step toward financial sovereignty and it carries the unmistakable stamp of Oramah’s thinking: practical, strategic, and proudly African.
But Professor Oramah did not stop at enabling payments; he knew Africa needed the muscle to produce what it trades. Thus came FEDA, a visionary investment arm of Afreximbank headquartered in Kigali. FEDA was designed to fill a critical gap -the shortage of equity capital for industries that process, manufacture, and add value within Africa. With more than US $670 million already mobilised across multiple fund strategies, FEDA invests in projects that create jobs, diversify exports, and power regional trade. Its purpose is clear: to make Africa a continent that sells finished products, not just raw materials. That mission echoes the entrepreneurial spirit Nigeria is known for, the refusal to settle for less, the drive to own the full value of one’s creation.
Together, PAPSS and FEDA are not just programs; they are living embodiments of Oramah’s philosophy. PAPSS ensures African trade flows freely. FEDA ensures that what flows is produced and owned by Africans. One provides the system; the other, the substance. Both are hallmarks of Nigerian ingenuity -practical, ambitious, and transformative.
Under Oramah’s leadership, Afreximbank achieved record financial results: over US $42 billion in total assets, a profit of US $215 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone, and a liquidity ratio of over 20 percent, remarkable figures by any global standard. Yet, beyond the balance sheets lies the deeper legacy: an institution now woven into Africa’s economic fabric, one that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its global peers while still speaking the language of the continent it serves.
It is no accident that such leadership emerged from Nigeria, a nation that has long provided Africa with some of its sharpest minds and most determined reformers. Oramah’s story reinforces a simple truth: when Nigeria leads with vision, Africa follows with progress. His success validates the intellectual depth and strategic capability Nigeria continues to export to the world.
Even in his international outlook, Oramah never lost sight of the spirit of home. When he expanded Afreximbank’s reach to the Caribbean, linking Africa with its diaspora through trade and culture, he did so with a conviction rooted in Pan-African pride,the same pride that flows in every Nigerian who believes the continent’s future belongs to its people.
As he stepped down from the presidency in 2025, his colleagues in Grenada planted a flamboyant tree to honour his leadership, a symbol of growth, rootedness, and renewal. But for Africa, and for Nigeria especially, that tree represents more than a farewell; it represents continuity. It reminds us that seeds sown with purpose will outlive the sower.
Today, as African nations trade more with one another, settle payments in their own currencies, and build industries that create value at home, the fingerprints of Professor Benedict Oramah and by extension, Nigeria are unmistakable. His legacy is not just the growth of a bank; it is the rise of a new continental confidence.
He took Afreximbank from strength to greatness, but more importantly, he gave Africa something priceless: belief in its own economic power. And like the best of Nigerian sons, he did it not with noise, but with results-quietly, brilliantly, and unforgettably.
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