Afreximbank Appoints New Executive Vice President

Kanayo Awani has been appointed as the new Executive Vice President of the Intra-African Trade Bank (INAT) in African Export-Import Bank, (Afreximbank) with effect from July 1, 2022.

The decision to appoint Awani as the Bank Vice President was after the Afreximbank’s Board of Directors on June 13, 2022, approved a recommendation by Professor Benedict Oramah, the Bank President to appoint Awani to the new position to lead INAT, a new executive division of Afreximbank responsible for driving all Afreximbank intra-African trade activities, including all its African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) implementation engagements.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Afreximbank’s media contact, Amadou Labba Sail, on Monday, June 20, 2022.

According to Sail, Awani has served as Managing Director of Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Initiative since May 18, 2016, where she had the primary responsibility of assisting the bank in ensuring the attainment of its Intra-African Trade Strategy.

"In that capacity, she successfully led Afreximbank’s engagements in support of the establishment and implementation of the AfCFTA, championing the Bank’s support for the negotiations that culminated in the signing of the AfCFTA agreement in Kigali in March 2018.

"She was also responsible for growing the bank’s business attributed to intra-African trade from around 3% in 2016 to 28% by end of 2021, disbursing US$20 bn in support of intra-African trade and investments in five years", he said.

"In the same period, she also led the establishment and deployment of the Bank’s Intra-African Trade Champions programme, making it possible for major African businesses to expand their operations into other African countries, creating true African conglomerates and making 'Made in Africa' products available across Africa with the Bank cumulatively supporting over 25 contract awards estimated at about $10 billion.

"She was also the arrowhead for the introduction and organisation of the biennial Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), delivering the first edition, IATF2018, in Cairo in December 2018 and IATF2021 in Durban, South Africa, in November 2021.

"IATF2021 successfully brought together 32,541 visitors from 128 countries and 1,501 exhibitors from 69 countries, resulting in the closing of trade and investment deals worth US$42 billion."