Afreximbank’s Rene Awambeng Named in Powerlist Black Excellence Awards

•Our future lies in unity, Oramah declares at AfriCaribbean investment forum

The Director & Global Head, Client Relations, Afreximbank, Rene Awambeng, was awarded the Global Executive Leader Award at the Powerful Media’s Powerlist Black Excellence Awards 2024. 

The Powerlist celebrates Britain’s most influential people of African, African American and African Caribbean heritage.

The Global Executive Leader Award sponsored by the London Stock Exchange Group is given to an outstanding leader, based outside the United Kingdom, who has demonstrated exceptional vision, innovation, influence and had a transformative impact on their organisation.

After attending Buckingham Palace in London by Royal Invitation for the Powerlist Celebration of Black Excellence Awards 2024 Reception, which was hosted by King Charles III, Awambeng was quoted in a statement yesterday, to have said: “I am passionate about serving Africa at Afreximbank and this Award is a recognition of the transformational work and contribution we do to make positive change in Africa. At Afreximbank we see the Diaspora as the 56th country of Africa. This Award is a privilege and should serve as inspiration for the younger men and women to work hard and aspire for change.”

The Powerlist is an annual publication that was first published in 2007 with the aim of providing professional role models for young people of African and African Caribbean heritage in Great Britain.

 It has created a network of influencers and in many ways is rebranding black Britain. The publication is distributed primarily to schools and

universities. It has become heavily requested by corporates as it is recognised as a valuable source for identifying black talent.

 The judging process for the Powerlist is based on strict criteria. Powerful Media receives new nominations and updates from current Powerlisters. Names are put through a rigorous test based on the criteria of influence: ‘The ability to positively alter events and change lives as demonstrated over a meaningful period of time.’ Biographies of the highest-scoring 150 or so are given to the judging panel for deliberation.

Meanwhile, at the Second AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF 2023), held yesterday,

The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict O. Oramah, unveiled the significant strides made in trade and investment relations between Africa and the Caribbean.

 Addressing Heads of Governments and delegates during a keynote on the opening day, Prof. Oramah underscored, “Just over a year ago, we began that journey convinced that only we could transform the fortunes of our lands.

“All of us from Africa and the Caribbean, at this moment more than at any other time in history, hold a firm conviction that determined action can grant us the economic emancipation and the true dignity we deserve.”

 In highlighting the achievements of the past year, Prof. Oramah celebrated the unity of the two regions: “In just under a year, eleven of the 15 CARICOM Member States had signed the Partnership Treaty… Afreximbank opened a Caribbean Office in Barbados, and it has begun operations.”

He acknowledged the shared journey of the two regions, referencing the great Marcus Garvey: “Chance has never yet satisfied the hope of a suffering people. Action, self-reliance, the vision of self and the future have been the only means by which the oppressed have seen and realised the light of their own freedom.”

Oramah, also emphasised that the achievements represented the beginning of an even greater journey ahead.

“As we look ahead…In a de-globalising world, small open economies will suffer if they don’t bind together, and there can be no better binding than that of brothers and sisters, as represented by AfriCaribbean trade and investment integration.”

 Since the inaugural ACTIF held in Barbados in September 2022, the Caribbean Development Fund has become Afreximbank’s first CARICOM shareholder, and Afreximbank has implemented or progressed a range of initiatives to further AfriCaribbean linkages:

“Afreximbank has approved a facility of $1.5 billion for CARICOM states, which will increase to $3 billion when all 15 CARICOM countries have signed the Partnership treaty.

“The Bank’s five trade and investment missions to CARICOM have resulted in pipeline deals totalling US$2 billion, under which critical transactions have been approved or are at final approval committee level.

“These include SME support and development in The Bahamas, tourism revitalisation support in Barbados, tourism projects in Grenada, renewable energy projects and trade finance in Saint Kitts and Nevis, and climate adaptation interventions in Saint Lucia,” a separate statement from the bank explained.

It pointed out that Afreximbank’s investment promotion drive had attracted well advanced African investment interest in the Caribbean’s financial sector, fisheries, industrial parks, ports, renewable energy and tourism.

Some of these deals, it stated, would be signed at ACTIF 2023, and this would include the Bank’s impact investment subsidiary, the Fund for Export Development in Africa’s signing of a Framework Agreement with Access Bank Group, Nigeria, to jointly invest in the financial services sector across the Caribbean.