Professor Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank, has recommended African countries to use less US dollars in their transactions in order to improve their development.
Entrepreneurs and countries should instead use the Pan African Payment Settlement System, which the bank has previously established for intra-continental trade, according to Professor Oramah.
Oramah, who criticized the excessive reliance on foreign money, particularly the US dollar, said that this dependence increases commodity inflationary pressures, exposing African trade to global volatility.
The president also emphasized the African Continental Free Trade Area’s (AfCFTA) benefits to the Kaduna State Government and businesspeople in general.
Dr. Hippolyte Fofack, the Bank’s Chief Economist and Director of Research and International Corporation, represented Oramah at the 6th edition Kaduna Investment and Economic Summit with a virtual presentation (KADINVEST).
The African Export-Import Bank’s President announced that the bank will host the Intra-African Trade Fair in Durban, South Africa, from November 15 to November 21, 2021, and that “this will afford investors, entrepreneurs, and others the opportunity to network and also enhance trade across the region.”
Professor Oramah, one of the keynote presenters at KADIVEST 6.0, mentioned a lack of infrastructure across the continent as one of Africa’s difficulties.
He emphasized the necessity for countries in the ECOWAS subregion to spend heavily in infrastructure in order to catch up with the global average and develop in the same way that Eastern and Southern African countries do.