Speaker and Panel Details
Professor Benedict Oramah Speaker
Prof. Benedict Oramah is the Immediate Past President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (“Afreximbank” or “the Bank”). He currently chairs several Boards, including those of Afreximbank affiliated entities, such as FEDA Investment Management, African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE), Africa Minerals and Metals Processing Platform (A2MP), African Trade and Distribution Company (ATDC), as well as that of Marob Strategies and Consulting DIFC Ltd, a strategy consulting and advisory firm he founded.
His professional career began at the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, where he worked as an Assistant Manager. He joined Afreximbank in 1994 and rose through the ranks from Chief Analyst and Special Assistant to the first President of Afreximbank to Senior Director in charge of Planning and Business Development, and Executive Vice President, before being appointed President and Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2015, a position he held for a decade until October 2025. As President, Oramah elevated the global stature and continental relevance of Afreximbank. He oversaw the rapid growth of Afreximbank, with total Assets and guarantees growing almost 8-fold between 2015 and October 2025, reaching over US$43 billion from about US$6 billion in 2015.
The growth strengthened the Bank’s development footprint across to the continent, transforming it into a systemically relevant institution. For instance, the Bank became the primary institution that helped drive critical continental initiatives, including the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), and the African Union’s “Agenda 2063: the Africa we Want.” He also led the creation and implementation of a number of initiatives and institutions, such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, and intra-African Trade Fair, the African Medical Center of Excellence, FEDA among other trade-enabling initiatives. He also championed a new era of trade and economic engagement between Africa, the Caribbean and the wider Africa Diaspora.
Albert Kobina Essien
Panellist
Albert is a seasoned financial specialist with 30 years of experience. He is the former CEO of Ecobank Group, responsible for taking the group into many of its African markets (9-countries) and most of its international ones (3 countries). His rich financial and cultural expertise in running Africa’s largest multi-national bank is invaluable to companies that want to expand and build great businesses in Africa.
During Albert’s 25-year career with Ecobank, he was tasked in 2005, with supervising the bank’s businesses in the West African monetary zone, overseeing Ghana, Liberia and Guinea, and opening divisions in Sierra Leone and Gambia. Still in that role, he led the Bank’s expansion into East and Southern Africa to countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania.
Prior to his role as Ecobank Group CEO, he served in multiple senior/executive management roles and is now well known as a respected leader in decision making, finding strategic financing partners, and resolving challenges at the governance level.
Albert serves as Board Chairman of the following: Endowment Fund of the
College of Physicians & Surgeons (Ghana), Oasis Africa Venture Capital Fund, and Ghana Amalgamated Trust (GAT), Jumo Ghana and serves as a non-executive director of the following notable institutions: Development Finance Institute (Fin Dev), Canada; Jumo Africa, Old Mutual South Africa and LMI Holdings.
Gloria Afful-Mensah
Panellist
Dr. Gloria Afful-Mensah is an Economist and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics, University of Ghana. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Milan, Italy. Her research encompasses issues of health, gender, and development policy, with a focus on using evidence to shape policies that improve lives and strengthen institutions.
She co-authors the Monetary and Financial Development chapter of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER)’s State of the Ghanaian Economy Report. She is also a researcher on the Hewlett Foundation-funded Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) project, where she analyses domestic resource mobilisation policies of the Government of Ghana.
Dr. Afful-Mensah has published in leading international journals and co-authored book chapters published by esteemed publishers including Oxford University Press, Lexington Books, and Palgrave Macmillan. She also has extensive experience in collaborative consultancy work with both international and local organisations.
Kwabena Asante-Poku
Panellist
Kwabena Asante-Poku is the Coverage Director for Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia at British International Investment (BII), where he leads the organisation's on-the-ground presence in Ghana.
His responsibilities include originating and executing investments, supporting portfolio management, and managing key stakeholder relationships across Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Before joining BII, Kwabena was a Partner and Head of Transaction Services for Ghana and Nigeria at PwC. He also worked as an independent consultant in the United Kingdom and began his career with Unilever Ghana.
Kwabena holds an MSc in Finance and Management from Cranfield University School of Management and is a CFA Charterholder.
Bernard Avle
MC & Moderator
Is a journalist and Media Executive with over 24 years’ experience as a Broadcaster.
He is the General Manager of Citi FM & ChannelOne TV and the host of Citi FM's multiple award-winning morning show - The Citi Breakfast Show, and The Point of View on ChannelOne TV.
Bernard has done pioneering work in using a commercial radio and TV platform to champion good governance and social accountability in Ghana.
Bernard holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Ghana and an MBA from Warwick University in the UK.
He is an Edward R Murrow Fellow of Journalism and a Chevening Scholar,
Bernard is a Fellow of the fifth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) – West Africa and is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Bernard was adjudged Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Journalist of the year for the year 2017.
Media Contacts
Abigail Nikoi
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5th KBE Memorial Lecture
This year's theme is Transforming Africa Through Trade and Financial Innovation and the keynote address will be delivered by Professor Benedict Oramah, Immediate Past President and Chairman of the Board of Afreximbank.
The keynote address will be followed by a panel discussion featuring leading experts from the finance, trade, and economics sectors, who will share their perspectives and engage in a conversation on the opportunities and challenges shaping Africa's economic future. Our distinguished panellists bring extensive experience across banking, development finance, economics, investment and public policy.