Climate & Energy · Nigeria · Pan-African
Afreximbank and African oil producers launch a $5bn Africa Energy Bank in Abuja as Western lenders pull back from oil and gas
The new lender will finance exploration, pipelines, refineries and distribution. Its first general meeting named Helmy Ghazi as president. The continent needs an estimated $200bn of energy investment, its founders say.
LAGOS — Africa’s oil producers now have their own development bank. Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) formally established the Africa Energy Bank at the new lender’s first general meeting in Abuja on Saturday, Afreximbank said.
The bank starts with $5bn of authorised capital. Its founders say Africa needs about $200bn of energy investment, while the lenders that have traditionally financed the sector are pulling money out of fossil fuels even though oil and gas remain central to the continent’s energy systems. The AEB says it wants to close that gap “while supporting a just energy transition for African countries”.
What it will fund
The bank will back projects in exploration and production, transport, processing, refining and distribution. The aim is to build productive capacity, cut Africa’s reliance on imported fuel and increase trade in energy goods between African countries. It will operate as an independent, supranational pan-African institution and will seek money from governments, national oil companies, financial institutions and private investors.
The first general assembly appointed Helmy Ghazi as the bank’s first president and set up its first board, with members from the public and private sectors and from policy institutions. Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, Afreximbank president George Elombi and Côte d’Ivoire’s mines and energy minister, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, attended the meeting, according to Africa Energies Report and Afreximbank.
AB24’s reading from Lagos: $5bn is authorised capital, not money in the bank. Watch how much shareholders actually pay in, which countries and national oil companies sign up, and whether the first loans go to gas and refining projects that commercial banks have avoided.
Sources: Afreximbank and APPO joint statement, 31 Oct 2026; Africa Energies Report, 31 Oct 2026.
— AB24 · Lagos