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The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) have formally set up the Africa Energy Bank (AEB).
The announcement was made at the bank’s first general meeting, held in Abuja, Nigeria, on 31 October 2026. Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, Afreximbank President and Chairman Dr George Elombi, and Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, were among those at the meeting.
African governments want more control over how the continent’s energy is financed. Investment in power generation and transmission is needed to support industrial growth and to make use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
The bank starts at a time when Africa’s energy investment needs are estimated at $200 billion. Traditional lenders are pulling funding from fossil fuels, even though oil and gas still play a major role in the continent’s energy systems. The AEB aims to close this gap while supporting a just energy transition.
It will operate as an independent, supranational pan-African financial institution. It will look for investment from governments, national oil companies, financial institutions and private investors.
At the meeting, shareholders appointed Helmy Ghazi as the bank’s first President. They also formed its first Board of Directors, made up of members from the public and private sectors and from policy institutions across Africa.
With authorised capital of $5 billion, the AEB will fund projects across the energy value chain, from exploration and production to transportation, processing, refining and distribution.
The aim is to build local production capacity, reduce reliance on imported petroleum products and increase trade in energy goods within Africa. The release does not say how much of the capital has been paid in.
Afreximbank is a pan-African multilateral financial institution that finances and promotes trade within Africa and with the rest of the world. It has operated for over 30 years and is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
The bank backs the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and launched the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which the African Union adopted as the payment platform for the AfCFTA. At the end of September 2026, its total assets and contingencies stood at over $54.1 billion, and shareholder funds were $9 billion.
The announcement follows one month after African Export-Import Bank extended a $45.6 million revolving working capital facility to Prometal SA, a Cameroonian metallurgical and industrial group.
In September, Afreximbank issued a $29 million guarantee to BSMART Technology Ltd to support implementing and scaling the EAC Customs Bond. This technology-enabled regional customs guarantee solution eases the movement of goods across East African countries.
APPO, formerly the African Petroleum Producers’ Association, is an intergovernmental organisation founded on 27 January 1987 in Lagos, Nigeria.
It works to strengthen cooperation among African oil-producing countries by coordinating policies and sharing knowledge, experience and expertise in the petroleum sector. It is represented by H.E. Farid Ghezali.
