African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) President Benedict Okey Oramah will receive the African Energy Chamber’s inaugural African Energy Person of the Year during African Energy Week 2022 in Cape Town in October.

The African Energy Person of the Year Award recognizes an individual who has been influential or prominent in Africa’s energy industry during the year or has championed Africa and its energy sector

Dr Oramah, an outstanding advocate for the continent and for a just African energy transition, is a natural choice for this award.  

In an era when fossil fuels funding are being restricted by wealthy nations, Benedict Oramah has been doing everything he can to strengthen Africa’s oil and gas industry. He understands that our oil and gas resources are still very much needed to eradicate our continent’s widespread energy poverty and create a pathway to a better economic future.

Oramah, who holds a doctorate degree in agricultural economics, has been president and chairman of the board of directors of Afreximbank since 2015. Prior to beginning his career with Afreximbank in 1994, he was an assistant research manager at the Nigerian Export Bank. Oramah is a published author and a frequent speaker at trade finance conferences around the world. In May, he was named African Banker of the Year (for the second time) in recognition of his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Oramah is untiring in his work on behalf of the continent. Under his guidance, Afreximbank distributed more than $7 billion to African countries during the pandemic so they were able to meet their people’s health needs and address COVID-19’s devastating impact on African economies. Not only that, Afreximbank guaranteed the procurement of 400 million doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, enough to vaccinate 30% of the continent’s population.”

Dr Oramah works equally hard to empower African governments, businesses, and communities to realize a more stable, prosperous future. In his role as Afrexibank’s president, he strives to de-risk transactions in Africa through medium- and long-term guarantee programs and is an outspoken voice on behalf of increased intra-African trade.

Because Dr Oramah recognizes that Africa’s energy sector still have important roles to play in building stronger, more resilient African countries, he continues to find ways to support a strong African sector — a healthy mix of oil, gas, and renewable sources. That became readily apparent in 2021, when Africa tried to convince the international community to respect the continent’s priorities, a plea that seemed to fall on deaf ears.