Cameroon's George Elombi to take over Afreximbank's leadership

Incoming African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) president and board chairman Dr George Elombi. [Courtesy]

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) named veteran executive Dr George Elombi as its next president and board chairman on Saturday, marking a leadership transition for the Cairo-based trade finance institution. 

Elombi, a Cameroonian national who has spent nearly three decades at the bank, will succeed Professor Benedict Oramah in September 2025. His appointment was ratified during Afreximbank’s 32nd Annual Meetings in Abuja, Nigeria, where shareholders formally approved the board’s recommendation. 

Elombi joined Afreximbank in 1996 as a legal officer and rose through key roles, including Executive Vice President for Governance, Legal, and Corporate Services. He played a central role in structuring the bank’s subsidiaries and led its $2 billion COVID-19 emergency response, facilitating vaccine access for African and Caribbean nations. 

Under his oversight, the bank mobilized $3.6 billion in equity as of April 2025. His legal and governance expertise also shaped critical institutional frameworks, including dispute resolution mechanisms for intra-African trade. 

In his acceptance speech, Elombi pledged to advance Afreximbank’s mandate, calling it a "force for industrializing Africa."

He endorsed a shareholder-backed goal to grow the bank into a $250 billion institution within a decade, emphasizing trade finance, industrialization, and pan-African economic resilience.

The appointment followed a five-month global search, with candidates screened by an international executive firm before the board’s recommendation. Afreximbank’s charter mandates presidential terms of five years, renewable once.

Elombi holds a PhD in commercial arbitration and an LL.M. from the London School of Economics alongside a law degree from Cameroon’s University of Yaoundé. Before Afreximbank, he lectured at the University of Hull, UK.

Oramah, who led the bank since 2015, oversaw its expansion into trade facilitation, crisis response, and the landmark AfCFTA Adjustment Fund. Elombi’s ascent signals continuity, with insiders noting his deep institutional knowledge.