The African Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank, and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation, APPO, have formally established the Africa Energy Bank, AEB, a pan-African energy lender with authorised capital of US$5 billion, intended to fill a financing shortfall left by international lenders retreating from fossil fuel projects.
The establishment was announced at the bank’s inaugural general meeting in Abuja on Saturday, where members passed resolutions appointing Mr Helmy Ghazi as the institution’s first president and constituting its inaugural Board of Directors, drawn from the public and private sectors and from policy institutions across the continent.
The two promoters said the creation of the bank reflected African governments’ determination to secure the continent’s energy future, and their assessment that large-scale investment in energy generation and transmission is needed both to accelerate industrial growth and to position African economies to capture opportunities from emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence.
According to the announcement, Africa’s energy investment needs are estimated at US$200 billion at a time when traditional providers of short- and long-term financing to the sector are withdrawing from fossil fuels, even as oil and gas remain central to the continent’s energy systems. The AEB is intended to bridge that gap while supporting a just transition for African countries.
The bank’s mandate covers the full energy value chain — exploration and production, transportation, processing, refining and distribution. Its investments are expected to strengthen productive capacity, cut reliance on imported petroleum products and expand intra-African trade in energy goods.
Also Read: Afreximbank, ATDC sign $500m trade facility
The promoters also framed the institution as a vehicle for African ownership of the sector, saying its mandate includes promoting strong African participation so that the continent’s energy future is “shaped by Africans.”
The AEB will operate as an independent, supranational pan-African financial institution and will seek capital from governments, national oil companies, financial institutions and private investors.
The Abuja meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; Afreximbank President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr George Elombi; and Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, according to press reports from the event.
Afreximbank, headquartered in Cairo, reported total assets and contingencies of more than US$54.1 billion at the end of September 2026, with shareholder funds of US$9.0 billion. It holds investment grade ratings from CCXI (AAA), GCR (A), JCR (A-), Moody’s (Baa2) and S&P Global Ratings (BBB+).
APPO, founded in Lagos on 27 January 1987 as the African Petroleum Producers’ Association, is an intergovernmental organisation that coordinates policy among African oil-producing countries.
Notes to editors: Afreximbank is a pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade and is the sponsor of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System and a US$10 billion AfCFTA Adjustment Fund. APPO is represented by H.E. Farid Ghezali.
Crediblenewsng.com
