Africa Energy Bank on track for $5-billion launch this year

The Africa Energy Bank, a fund created to address gaps in oil and gas project finance in Africa, is on schedule to begin operations later this year with a capital base of USD 5 billion, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The bank is being launched by the African Export–Import Bank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO).

On Friday, it saw a USD 20-million deposit from Ghana, a source told Reuters. This follows investments of USD 10 million each from Nigeria and Angola last year.

Member countries are expected to contribute USD 83 million apiece for a total amount of USD 1.5 billion, which will be matched by Afreximbank  and APPO. The remaining USD 2 billion is expected to come from “other investors, including Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds,” according to the report.

Zakaria Dosso, managing director of APPO’s investment arm, was cited as saying the bank was on track to launch in H2 of this year.

Dosso also said a number of countries – Algeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa – were making bids to host the bank’s headquarters. Ghana is the favourite, according to an article published earlier this month in The Africa Report.

In a public presentation on the bank, Afreximbank has said it will “accelerate Africa’s economic development, whilst ensuring this progress is compatible with, and complementary to, the UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as the continent’s long-term social and environmental objectives as set out in the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.”

Photo of the Ogbele Refinery courtesy of Niger Delta E&P.