PPROF. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has been honoured with the 2019 Man of the Year Award by Diaspora Today magazine. He was also conferred with the African Diaspora Distinguished Leadership Award by Prince Georges County of Maryland, United States.
The award ceremony took place in Washington DC recently. Angela Alsobrooks, Prince Georges County Executive, who presented the awards to Prof. Oramah said that they were in celebration of his achievements and contributions toward the development of the African continent.
She referenced Prof. Oramah’s “unique, excellent and very impressive leadership style in managing the activities, events and developmental programmes of Afreximbank across Africa and all over the globe”.
In his acceptance speech, Prof. Oramah said that he saw the awards as a call to action given that a lot still needs to be accomplished in order to take Africa to greater heights.
He commended the contribution of the African Diaspora to the continent’s development, saying that, should the collective African Diaspora be regarded as the 56th African state, it would rank top in terms of “GDP” and would have an estimated GDP of over 500 billion US dollars and GDP per capita significantly higher than Africa’s average.
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According to him, with more than 30 million Africans living outside their home countries and remitting about $63 billion and saving another $53 billion annually, the Diaspora has become an intra-African trade resource.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.