African Energy Bank is created in Abuja with 5bn dollars authorised

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers' Organisation (APPO) announced on 31 October the creation of the African Energy Bank in Abuja, Nigeria, to fund African energy projects.

Algérie 360 reported that, for producers such as Algeria, the bank opens a new source of African financing. The bank is meant to help African countries use their resources without relying on outside funding.

The bank was set up at a constituent general assembly in Abuja, which also named its first president and board of directors. Helmy Ghazi, an Egyptian and former deputy managing director of HSBC Egypt, will lead it.

Ghazi must make the bank operational, attract new capital and launch its first financing. The bank has a temporary headquarters on several floors of the African Trade Centre in Abuja.

Capital and start-up

The bank has an authorised capital of 5bn dollars. This sum is the ceiling set by its statutes, not an amount already paid in. Members and investors must gradually commit to and pay for their shares.

Its charter makes the start of the bank conditional on at least 500m dollars of committed capital. Nigeria, the host country, has already paid its share. The bank also plans to raise funds from governments, national oil companies and private investors.

Algeria's role

Algeria is one of the eight founding countries of APPO, which was created in 1987 in Lagos. Farid Ghezali, an Algerian official of Sonatrach, has been secretary general of APPO since November 2025.

Ghezali does not run the new bank, but APPO, which he leads, is one of its two promoters. Mohamed Arkab, minister of state, led the ministerial working group that worked to finalise the bank's creation.

Algeria then chaired the commission preparing the launch. Algeria had also applied in 2024 to host the headquarters, which went to Nigeria. In June 2026, Ghezali said Algeria was among the first countries to commit to the project.

A delegation from Algeria took part in a February meeting to activate the bank in Abuja. The ratification decree and the amount of Algeria's share in the capital have yet to be made official by the government.

Why the bank was created

The idea came after COP26, when several Western lenders cut funding for oil and gas projects. APPO announced its wish to create the bank in May 2022, together with Afreximbank. The two institutions signed the charter in June 2024 in Cairo.

The promoters estimate Africa's energy investment needs at 200bn dollars. The bank aims to help African countries use their resources without depending on outside finance, and to support access to electricity and industrialisation.

It will finance projects along the whole energy chain, from exploration, production and transport to processing, refining and distribution. It will also support the continent's energy transition.

Its first financing is still to be decided by its management and board of directors.