Former African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) President, Professor Benedict Oramah, stated on Friday in Lagos that Africa's persistent underdevelopment is largely self-inflicted and anchored in historical colonial and neo-colonial frameworks designed to maintain continental dependency.
Delivering remarks during a fireside chat at the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) WKND 2026 event hosted in Lagos, Oramah maintained that the foremost task confronting the continent is dismantling institutional structures that restrict growth and reclaiming ownership over regional resources and sovereignty.
“The problem we have on the continent is to reverse the colonial strategy that has kept us down. The problem we have is to take back the minds of our people, to make sure that our people take their destiny in our hands,” Oramah stated during the session.
According to the former banking chief, Africa operates within an engineered framework that frequently undermines its own progress. He pointed out that contemporary neo-colonialism often masquerades under the banner of "international best practice," steering economic policies that disadvantage local populations.
What are the financial implications of foreign reserves management?
Oramah highlighted the management of continental foreign reserves, estimated between $300 billion and $500 billion annually, as a prime illustration of systemic economic misdirection. These vast funds are routinely deposited in foreign financial institutions abroad under the guise of security and adherence to global standards.
Consequently, external economies profit from these liquidity injections, while African nations experience capital scarcity and are subsequently subjected to steep risk premiums when attempting to borrow funds derived from their own regional savings.
“When we take money from our own countries and put them in someone else’s country, the people get richer, we get poorer. But we are proud to say we are keeping our money abroad,” Oramah remarked.
How is Afreximbank addressing capital flight?
He asserted that genuine African financial strategies must focus on retaining capital within the continent, reinforcing domestic financial institutions rather than exporting wealth overseas. Over the past thirty years, Afreximbank has formulated specific instruments and platforms aimed at correcting these historical imbalances.
Oramah referenced the bank's involvement as co-adviser on a major refinery initial public offering (IPO) intended to mobilise capital from investors across Africa and the global diaspora, including the Caribbean and the United States. The overarching strategy, he explained, treats "global Africa as one country" to ensure indigenous institutions direct regional development.
Having recently concluded a decade-long tenure marked by substantial asset expansion at the bank, Oramah emphasised that ongoing structural economic reforms remain incomplete. He urged Africans to independently generate and protect intellectual and practical development models tailored to serve regional interests rather than external agendas.
CANEX WKND 2026 is jointly organised by Afreximbank and the Federal Government of Nigeria, with this year's programming centering on finance, institutional ownership, intellectual property rights, and market penetration for the continent's creative and cultural sectors.