Oramah, Afreximbank boss wants Diaspora Africans to play key role in AfCFTA

BENEDICT ORA MAH, A PROFESSOR and president of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has asked Africans living outside their home countries numbering more than 30 million to play a major role in driving the burgeoning African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

More than 30 million Africans are living outside the continent, remitting about $63 billion back home, and saving another $53 billion annually. Many economic experts believe the Diaspora population has become an intra-African trade resource.

Oramah spoke in the U.S while receiving two awards from two Diaspora organisations, arguing that the African Diaspora must be brought into intra-African trade in order to deepen the dynamism of that trade.

The World Bank’s “Migration and Development Brief,” indicatA ed that migrants sent $46 billion to their home countries in subSaharan Africa (SSA) in 2018, a 10 percent jump from the 2017 remittances.

Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy with a gross domestic product of $470 billion, has been leading in the Diaspora inflows. Last year (2018), Diaspora remittances to the country stood at $24.3 billion. It showed an increase of more than $2 billion compared to the previous year’s figure of $22.3 billion.

Oramah said Afreximbank’s intra-African trade strategy, launched in May 2016, was part of the effort to address that challenge. A key component of the intra-African trade strategy was the broadening of intra-African trade to include the Diaspora. In that regard, Afreximbank is supporting the growth of businesses operated by African Diasporas by providing working capital finance to import ethnic foods and other tradable goods from African markets.

He said the contribution of the African Diaspora to the continent’s development is immeasurable; noting that, should the collective African Diasporas be regarded as the 56th African state, it would rank top in terms of GDP; and would have an estimated GDP of over US$500 billion and GDP per capita significantly higher than Africa’s average.

Obi Emekekwu of Afreximbank communications, in a statement said, the pan-African multilateral financial boss was awarded the 2019 Man of the Year from the Diaspora Today magazine, a leading publication targeting African Diaspora in the U.S, and the African Diaspora Distinguished Leadership award of Prince Georges County of Maryland, USA.

Angela Alsobrooks, Prince Georges County executive said they were in celebration of Oramah’s achievements and contributions toward the development of the African continent. She referenced his “unique, excellent and very impressive leadership style in managing the activities, events and developmental programmes of Afreximbank across Africa and all over the globe.”