BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
African Export-Import Bank has announced the early retirement of Amr Kamel, Executive Vice President, Business Development and Corporate Banking, effective 31 July, 2022.
Kamel has decided to take early retirement after 27 years of dedicated service to Afreximbank.
He is one of the pioneers of the Bank, which he joined as a Senior Operations Associate in 1995, one year after the Bank started operations in October 1994.
Kamel then held the position of Director of Banking Operations from January 2011, before being appointed Executive Vice President in charge of Business Development and Corporate Banking in 2016.
During his long and successful career at Afreximbank, Kamel has been instrumental in expanding the Bank’s operations across Africa, particularly in Egypt, where he has played a leading role in overseeing the financing of loans and guarantees totaling more than $26 billion.
Over the years, Kamel has also worked hard to take Afreximbank beyond African borders, contributing significantly to raising the Bank’s profile on the international stage. Over the past 10 years, as Vice President, he has helped grow the Bank’s portfolio from $55 million when he joined to nearly $19 billion today.
In bidding farewell to Kamel, Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank made the following statement:
“It is with great emotion that, on behalf of myself, the Board of Directors and the entire staff of Afreximbank, I say goodbye to our friend, colleague and great Afreximbanker, Mr. Amr Kamel who has decided to take an early retirement. We are proud and grateful for his service over the years, not only to Afreximbank, but also to Africa. He is part of the team that, from the beginning, believed in the relevance of the mandate entrusted to the Bank and contributed to making the Bank the great institution that is transforming the African continent, boosting intra-African trade and championing export manufacturing and industrialisation. He is a trusted confidant to me as President and inspiration to the entire team. He will be missed. Confident that his retirement does not mean the end of his commitment to the development of African trade, we all wish him fair winds and following seas.”
