Authored by Alex Kimani via OilPrice,
Africa now has a bank built to finance the oil and gas projects Western banks and development lenders have dropped under their climate commitments.
Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers' Organization (APPO) formally established the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) at its inaugural general meeting in Abuja on October 31. That was more than four years after the two institutions began work on it and some 20 months behind schedule. Abuja beat bids from six countries, including Ghana, Algeria, South Africa and Benin, to host the bank. Its first president is Helmy Ghazi, formerly deputy CEO of HSBC Bank Egypt, and a board drawn from the public sector, private sector and policy institutions will lead it. The AEB's mandate covers the entire energy value chain: exploration and production, transport, processing, refining and distribution, cross-border pipelines and regional refineries, and power generation and transmission.
The bank's $5 billion in authorized capital is a ceiling. About $500 million has been mobilized so far, including $222 million from Afreximbank and a Nigerian contribution reported at between $100 million and $200 million. The AEB aims to mobilize up to $10 billion in financing in its first operational phase and plans to fund at least three projects in 2027
