The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the appointment of Dr. George Elombi as its next President and Chairman of the Board of Directors. His appointment was confirmed during the bank’s 32nd Annual General Meetings held in Abuja, Nigeria, from June 25 to 28, 2025. Dr. Elombi will officially assume the role in September 2025, succeeding Professor Benedict Oramah, who will step down after a decade of transformative leadership.
A Cameroonian national, Dr. Elombi brings nearly three decades of experience at Afreximbank, having joined the institution in 1996 as a Legal Officer. Over the years, he has held several senior leadership roles, including Executive Vice President for Governance, Legal and Corporate Services, Director and Executive Secretary, and Chief Legal Officer. Prior to joining the bank, he was a law lecturer at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Elombi has played a pivotal role in shaping Afreximbank’s institutional framework and expanding its operational capacity. He was instrumental in establishing key subsidiaries and chaired the Emergency Response Committee during the COVID-19 pandemic, mobilizing over $2 billion for vaccine procurement and distribution across Africa and the Caribbean. Under his leadership of the Equity Mobilization and Investor Relations department, the bank raised $3.6 billion in ordinary equity as of April 2025.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Elombi expressed deep commitment to the bank’s mission and its future trajectory. “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 re-gaining the dignity of Africans wherever they are,” he said. He also pledged to uphold the ambitious goal set by his predecessor to transform Afreximbank into a $250 billion institution within the next decade.
Dr. George Elombi holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) and a Ph.D. in Commercial Arbitration from the London School of Economics, University of London, and a Maitrise-en-Droit from the University of Yaoundé. His appointment followed a rigorous global selection process launched in January 2025, which included an international call for applications and interviews with shortlisted candidates. He becomes the fourth President of Afreximbank since its establishment in 1993.
