The African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) new President George Elombi will be sworn in on Saturday, heralding a new era at the trade finance institution after a decade that saw rapid growth but which nevertheless invited increased scrutiny.
A Cameroonian lawyer who has been at Afreximbank since 1996, Elombi was formerly the most senior executive for governance and legal services. He becomes the bank’s fourth president. Elombi said the bank’s mandate is to change the structure of African trade “so that we can face development head on,” in his first comments after being appointed in June. He credited his predecessor for taking on that task “very boldly” in his tenure, pledging to stay on the mission.
But given a wave of recent concern about the bank’s lending approach — evidenced by two ratings downgrades by Fitch and Moody’s this year — the change of guard holds the potential for shaping Afreximbank in Elombi’s image.