Africa Energy Bank opens in Abuja with $5bn to finance the continent's energy
Afreximbank and African oil producers have set up their own lender as foreign banks pull back from oil and gas.
Abuja — African oil-producing countries now have a bank of their own. The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers' Organisation (APPO) formally established the Africa Energy Bank at its first general meeting, held in Abuja on Saturday, 31 October.
What the bank will do
- Capital: $5 billion authorised.
- Headquarters: Nigeria.
- First president: Helmy Ghazi, appointed at the meeting, which also named the first board.
- What it funds: exploration and production, pipelines and transport, processing, refining and distribution, plus power generation and transmission.
The founders said traditional lenders are withdrawing from fossil-fuel financing even though oil and gas remain vital to Africa's energy systems. They put the continent's energy investment needs at about $200 billion.
The bank is meant to cut Africa's reliance on imported refined fuel, build up local refining and processing, and increase energy trade between African countries. Its mandate, the founders said, includes making sure "Africa's energy future is shaped by Africans".
It will run as an independent pan-African institution, open to investment from governments, national oil companies, financial institutions and private investors.
The meeting was attended by Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; Afreximbank President George Elombi; and Côte d'Ivoire's Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly.
Source: The Punch, November 2026.
