What a year it has been for Nigeria, one that might yet go down in the country’s foreign relations history as one of the most consequential. Not since the era in which Nigeria played a frontline role in decolonising Africa and ending the ignoble reign of apartheid in South Africa, and then, her defining role as the team leader of ECOMOG Forces in Liberia and Sierra Leone, has Nigeria’s exertions on the foreign front become a front-burner issue.
It is tempting to dwell on the dramatic end-of-year developments, starting with the ‘coup’ in Guinea-Bissau following a hotly contested election, which pitched incumbent President Umaro Embalo and Opposition Candidate, Fernando Dias da Costa, or the coup in the neighbouring Benin Republic, which Nigeria, in response to a request by the democratically elected government there, had to step in with military support to quell, or the incident in Burkina Faso which has had Nigeria’s military aircraft, said to have made emergency landing, grounded along with 11 of our soldiers who were on board of the plane that was on its way to Portugal for maintenance.
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But we choose to focus on something else – the giant strides by two Nigerians who this year separately ended a ten-year tour of duty on the continent, leaving behind an impressive legacy that should continue to speak for them and Nigeria for years to come. The stories of Dr Akinwunmi Adesina and Professor Benedict Oramah might have started separately and from different points in Nigeria, but they would eventually coincide with time in their illustrious runs on the continent as Heads of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) respectively, at just about the same period. Both men assumed the presidency of the organisations in 2015, with Oramah rising through the ranks, while Adesina came in as President of the AfDB after his time as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture. These two Nigerians spearheaded a visionary regime of strategic transformations at AfDB and Afreximbank that not only significantly enhanced the capacities and outreach of the institutions but also delivered tangible economic and social gainsfor the continent, leaving behind an enduring legacy in Africa’s developmental financing landscape.
Dr Akinwunmi Adesina’s presidency at the AfDB was bold and audacious, redefining African multilateral development cooperation with ambitious objectives framed around five core goals known as the “High 5s” These are: Light up and power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialise Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. Reports have it that these programmes have transformed over 500 million lives, with 127 million people gaining improved health services, 61 million having access to clean water, 33 million benefiting from better sanitation, 46 million gaining access to ICT services, and 25 million gaining access to electricity, alongside millions reached through food security and jobs programmes.
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He radically transformed the bank’s financial strength, growing its capital base from $93 billion at the time of his assumption of office to $325 billion by the end of his tenure, representing an unprecedented growth of nearly 250 per cent. This historic expansion enhanced the bank’s ability to mobilise over $273 billion across infrastructure, industrialisation, agriculture, and social sectors across Africa. Nigeria has been a central beneficiary of these strategic priorities, attracting over $5.6 billion in private investments. Under Adesina’s guidance, the AfDB mobilised $2.2 billion to create Special Agro-Processing Zones in 28 states in Nigeria, a landmark initiative to reduce agricultural post-harvest losses and strengthen value chains, boosting rural incomes and industrial linkages.
Professor Benedict Oramah’s record at Afreximbank is no different from that of Adesina in terms of landmark achievements. He expanded Afreximbank’s asset base from $6 billion to over $40 billion by 2025, a more than sixfold increase during his time in office, exponentially increasing the bank’s lending capacity and financial clout, steering its emphasis towards trade finance, export-import facilitation, and risk guarantees, with a direct focus on increasing African countries’ export competitiveness, bolstering intra-African trade and export diversification.
The landmark initiatives of the Oramah era were built around turning the institution from a narrow export‑credit institution into a full trade‑and‑development group: building payments and adjustment mechanisms for AfCFTA, creating new equity and insurance arms, harmonising standards, financing industrial and health infrastructure, and using culture and diaspora platforms to embed “Global Africa” in world trade and finance.
Under Benedict Oramah, Nigeria received substantial benefits, particularly through the massive financing the Dangote Refinery received toward the completion of its 650,000 bpd refinery. Afreximbank provided over $4 billion in total support to the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, including a landmark $1.35 billion tranche as lead arranger in an August 2025 $4 billion syndicated facility to refinance construction costs, easing Dangote Industries’ operational pressures, strengthening its balance sheet, enabling Nigeria’s drive to attain energy independence and industrial growth. Indeed, Nigeria had received about 60 per cent of Afreximbank’s $30 billion energy sector funding across Africa by 2024, with the refinery as the flagship intervention. A point Oramah highlighted as proof that African institutions can finance continent-scale projects without external help.
While Adesina’s tenure represents a leap in institutional clout and development financing scale, Oramah’s tenure marks a transformative expansion that has repositioned Afreximbank as a pivotal trade finance enabler in Africa. The institutions’ increased lending capacity and innovative financing tools have helped crowd in private and international capital, amplifying development impact beyond traditional aid and concessional finance models.
For Nigeria, the Adesina and Oramah legacies have demonstrated in clear terms how strong Nigerian leadership within continental institutions can be leveraged to the country’s advantage. Through their efforts, Nigeria has enjoyed enhanced access to large-scale infrastructure financing, enabling critical investments in power generation, transport corridors, and agriculture. Their legacies underscore the power of strategic, homegrown leadership in African multilateral institutions in unlocking transformative developmental dividends. Nigeria’s increased access to development finance, strengthened trade capabilities, and accelerated infrastructure and industrial projects through these organisations position the country to sustainably address key growth constraints and chart a path towards inclusive prosperity and continental integration in the coming decades.
Their leadership and legacies also furthered Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives, enhancing Nigeria’s stature in Africa’s development finance architecture and facilitating regional integration, leaving us with valuable lessons for 2026 and beyond on the need to be more strategic, intentional, and deliberate in our engagement with the world and the calibre of people we put forward as the country’s Ambassadors and Representatives in international institutions. There is no doubt that both men still have a lot in their tanks that Nigeria, other international institutions, and the world at large can still tap into.
Simbo Olorunfemi is a specialist on Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and managing editor of Africa Enterprise, while Ade Adefeko is director Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Olam Agri, ex officio, NACCIMA. They are co-authors of the book, “For God, Africa and Diplomacy.”
