Beyond Legacy: What’s Next for Adesina and Oramah?
By Jerry Adesewo
Nigeria has in recent years produced leaders whose influence extends far beyond domestic politics and traditional public service. Two of the most consequential among them are Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and Professor Benedict Oramah—figures whose leadership of two major African financial institutions helped reshape the continent’s development finance landscape over the past decade. Their departures from those roles prompt a natural question: What next for these two giants, and where else could their expertise benefit Nigeria?
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A Legacy of Transformation
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina’s journey from rural Nigeria to the presidency of the African Development Bank (AfDB) is one of the most inspiring Nigerian success stories of the 21st century. Serving from 2015 to 2025, Adesina transformed the bank’s capital, expanded its strategic priorities, and amplified Africa’s voice in global development finance. Under his leadership, AfDB’s capital base grew significantly, and investments were channelled into infrastructure, agriculture, industrialisation, and integration—guided by his “High 5s” strategic agenda aimed at powering, feeding, and connecting the continent.
Professor Benedict Oramah, meanwhile, concluded a decade at the helm of the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), elevating the institution into a central actor in African trade finance. He was widely recognised for championing mechanisms that support intra-African trade and pioneered initiatives such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which is critical to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Under his stewardship, Afreximbank grew its balance sheet and influence across the continent, earning him accolades including Forbes Africa’s Person of the Year in 2023.
Together, Adesina and Oramah demonstrated Nigerian capacity for leadership on the continental stage. Their tenures were more than professional achievements; they were testaments to what Nigerian-trained minds can accomplish on global platforms.
So, What’s Next?
As both men transition from their respective institutional roles, Nigeria should view them not as retirees but as strategic national assets—brains refined by experience and perspectives hardened in the crucible of continental challenges.
Here are three arenas where their talents could be leveraged next:
1. National Strategic Development Councils
With Nigeria seeking sustainable paths to economic diversification, both Adesina and Oramah could provide invaluable leadership on national councils or commissions focused on long-term development planning—particularly around food systems, industrialisation, infrastructure finance, and economic integration.
2. Global Finance and Policy Advisory
Their track records make them natural candidates for roles within multilateral development institutions, global financial organisations, or advisory boards shaping international economic policy—ensuring Nigeria has influence in decision-making circles that affect global capital flows and African development priorities.
3. Mentorship, Academia, and Thought Leadership
As scholars and practitioners, Adesina and Oramah could shape the next generation of African leaders through teaching, research, and public intellectual work. Their lived experience in transforming large institutions could be distilled into frameworks for leadership, economic strategy, and pan-African cooperation.
A Call for Nigeria to Engage Them Again
Nigeria is too quick to celebrate globally successful citizens and too slow to fashion roles that return their expertise home. Adesina and Oramah have just concluded chapters that have benefited millions of Africans. To waste their next years on insignificance would be a national loss.
Their legacy teaches that Nigeria’s potential is not found in rhetoric but in competence, resilience, and strategic vision. Allowing these two leaders to continue serving—not as distant icons, but as active architects of national and continental progress—would be the most appropriate next chapter in their already remarkable journeys.