By Atoyebi Nike
Benedict Oramah, the outgoing President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has been hailed as “the living AI of our time” for his bold leadership and visionary role in strengthening Africa’s economic resilience.
The remark came from Robert Ochola, CEO of Africa Nenda, during the Afreximbank Legacy Conference and Investiture in Cairo, Egypt, where he compared Oramah’s decisive leadership to the precision of artificial intelligence but with “human vision and urgency.”
Reflecting on the 2015 economic downturn, Ochola recalled how Oramah’s leadership birthed the Countercyclical Trade Liquidity Facility (COTRALF), which provided foreign exchange liquidity to African banks amid severe financial shocks. “Unlike AI, which might take months to design a solution, Afreximbank under Oramah acted in weeks,” Ochola said.
He described Oramah’s tenure as Africa’s ‘second emancipation’, marking a shift from political liberation to economic transformation.
Also speaking, Gwen Mwaba, Afreximbank’s Managing Director for Trade Finance, highlighted Oramah’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the creation of the Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) and the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT). These initiatives mobilized billions in funding to stabilize trade, support vaccine procurement, and strengthen local manufacturing.
“Under Professor Oramah’s guidance, Afreximbank became Africa’s anchor in times of crisis,” Mwaba said. “His leadership reminds us that African problems require African-designed solutions.”
