Institutional resilience key to Africa’s future – Cardoso

Mariam Abeeb

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, has underscored the importance of institutional resilience as a vital foundation for building strong and lasting African institutions.

Speaking at the opening of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in Abuja, he emphasised that resilience must be deliberately engineered through strategic foresight, crisis preparedness, sound governance, and stakeholder trust.

Mr. Cardoso described the gathering as a momentous occasion to celebrate Afreximbank’s 32nd anniversary and reflect on the Bank’s transformative journey over the past three decades.

He commended the President of Afreximbank, Prof Benedict Oramah, the Board of Directors, and the entire team for their unwavering commitment to reshaping Africa’s economic trajectory, noting that their work continues to inspire hope, confidence, and collective action across the continent.

Speaking on the session’s sub-theme, “Thirty-Two Years of Resilient Growth and Transformation,” he stated that the discussion was timely, as Africa currently faced a multitude of overlapping challenges, including geopolitical fragmentation, trade protectionism, technological disruptions, and climate shocks.

Despite these hurdles, he emphasised that the continent has demonstrated remarkable resilience, having weathered multiple financial crises, commodity price volatility, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Cardoso further highlighted Afreximbank’s unique role in this resilience journey, praising the institution for evolving beyond the remit of a traditional financial institution into a trusted pan-African partner, strategic convener, and catalyst for change.

He reminded attendees that the Bank was established in Abuja in 1993 to provide much-needed trade finance at a time when global financial institutions were retreating from Africa.

Since then, he observed, Afreximbank had evolved from humble beginnings into a formidable continental force, backed by 51 African nations and a diverse coalition of public and private sector partners.

The Governor cited several strategic interventions by Afreximbank that had significantly impacted Africa’s economic landscape. These include the launch of the Counter-Cyclical Trade Liquidity Facility (COTRALF) in 2015, which disbursed over US$10 billion to stabilise African economies during widespread foreign exchange shortages.