African Energy Bank Formed to Provide the Credit Cut off by the West

Africa has created its own Energy Bank to finance hydrocarbon development on the continent, and make up for the credit denied by Western financial institutions as part of the global transition out of hydrocarbons. First proposed by the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) in May 2022, the charter of the Africa Energy Bank was just signed in June of this year, and Nigeria was chosen on July 4 to host the bank in Abuja, which will open for business in September.

The new institution is a joint venture between the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the APPO and its member states (Algeria, Angola. Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana. Libya, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria , Senegal, and South Africa).

At the June 4 signing of the bank’s charter in Cairo, APPO Secretary General Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim declared: “For too long Africa’s oil and gas industry has been dependent on extra-African funding. We came to take foreign financing of our oil and gas projects for granted, until the advent of energy transition made us realize that those on whom we have depended for many decades have decided to abandon us.” He stressed that the continent cannot afford to do without oil and gas when most of its population has no access to energy. After all, Africa has over 125 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, and over 17 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves, with more findings being made regularly.

Dr. Farouk Ibrahim was backed up by NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, in an interview to Arise News. “We are tired of people talking down on Africa as if we are in the dark ages or the black continent. We should be proud of our continent and showcase those opportunities, and I thank God that we have an opportunity to show that and do it in the best form”, Ayuk told Arise News, which ran the interview in Pan African Visions on July 24.

The African continent, he said, “is at the center of global discourse because of one most important thing, energy poverty. I think at a time when many are saying we need to, because of climate change, we need to abandon oil and gas resources, Africans are today saying, no, it’s our time to develop. We still have 600 million people without access to electricity, and 900 million without access to clean cooking.” He also stressed the need of industrialization in Africa.