African Energy Bank Plans to Raise $15bn in Three Years

By Adedapo Adesanya

The African Energy Bank (AEB) plans to raise $15 billion in its first three years of operations to fund strategic energy projects.

The Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), Mr Farid Ghezali, made this known at the opening session of the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2026) on Tuesday.

The bank which is set to launch in Abuja in the first half of 2026 has set a target of mobilising $200 billion for midstream and downstream energy projects across the continent.

“The African Energy Bank is designed to unlock the 200 billion needed for our midstream-downstream project by 2030.

“Our goal is to raise $15 billion in just three years with this increased liquidity,” Mr Ghezali stated.

The APPO secretary general decried that Africa’s energy still faces huge export of its oil and gas despite having a huge market for its utilisation within the continent.

“We are still exporting about 70 per cent of our crude oil and 45 per cent of our natural gas, losing $15 billion per year. This is an added value that we could generate locally, especially in the midstream and downstream segments.”

He pinpointed that financing hurdles remained the main bottleneck for the continent, as the cost of financing in Africa was 15 to 20 per cent, compared to only 4 to 6 per cent in Asia.

He said the disparity was unacceptable and had stalled over 150 projects, including refineries and the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Natural Gas Pipeline.

Mr Ghezali also said that APPO’s 18 national oil companies face isolation, “Our 18 national oil companies’ NOCs in APPO often operate in isolation, without a common stock exchange, which severely limits regional synergies.

He noted that the AEB was set to offer “competitive regional pricing” through unified intra-African gas and oil pricing for “savings of up to 30 per cent on their energy imports, a potential gain of $1.4 billion for Africa,” plus “direct access to investors.

He highlighted the three-phase road map for the AEB to include: “Phase one, which, as I said in the first half of 2026, launches the African Energy Bank platform with 10-pillar projects involving countries such as Nigeria, Angola, and Libya. APPO certification and integration of IOCs such as Shell or ENI.”

“Phase two, in 2027, we plan to start a regional gas-oil trade, integrating the principles of the Bassari Declaration for 15 per cent local content.”

Phase three, reaching 2030, the African Energy Bank will be a true African financial hub, with $200 billion mobilised.”

He said expected results included, “Project financing for billions of dollars, regional savings of around 30 per cent of import costs, 500,000 direct jobs created in the local midstream.”