Africa Launches Its Own Oil Bank as Western Lenders Retreat
Africa now has a bank built to finance the oil and gas projects Western banks and development lenders have dropped under their climate commitments. Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) formally established the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) at its inaugural general meeting in Abuja on October 31. That was more than four years after the two institutions began work on it…
On October 31, Africa inaugurated its first bank tailored to fund oil and gas projects, a move Western lenders have halted due to climate commitments. The Africa Energy Bank (AEB), established by Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), aims to address Africa's energy sector financing gap. Abuja, Nigeria, was chosen as the site, overcoming bids from several other nations.
Helmy Ghazi, a former HSBC executive, will lead the bank's operations. The AEB's mandate spans the entire energy value chain, including exploration, production, transport, processing, refining, distribution, and power generation. With an authorized capital of $5 billion, the bank has already raised approximately $500 million, primarily from Afreximbank and Nigeria.
The AEB plans to mobilize up to $10 billion in its initial phase, focusing on regional refineries, pipelines, and just energy transition initiatives. Despite receiving about $35 billion annually in energy finance from G20 nations and multilateral development banks over the past decade, Africa still requires $200 billion in energy investments.
Currently, private investments in African energy are predominantly directed toward clean power rather than oil and gas.
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