Africa Energy Bank crucial to Energy Salvation in the Continent — APPO Sec. Gen, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim

In the realm of African energy, few voices resonate with as much authority and insight as that of Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, the Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO). With nearly four decades of experience in the oil and gas industry and a profound commitment to advancing Africa’s energy landscape, Dr. Ibrahim stands at the forefront of shaping the continent’s energy destiny.

As the driving force behind APPO’s strategic initiatives and regional collaborations, Dr. Ibrahim has been instrumental in steering Africa towards a path of sustainable energy, oil and gas development. While APPO acknowledges the global shift towards renewable energy sources, it believes that the current drive for energy transition is more ideologically driven than environmentally motivated. APPO emphasizes the importance of maintaining energy security and argues for the development of technologies to make oil and gas production more environmentally friendly.

APPO is focused on addressing challenges facing the African oil and gas industry, including financing, technology, and market development. Efforts are being made to reduce dependence on foreign financing, technology, and markets, and to enhance regional cooperation in these areas.

APPO’s main focus for 2024 is the establishment of the Africa Energy Bank, which aims to provide necessary funding for energy projects across the African continent, particularly in the oil and gas sector. The bank is expected to become operational by the middle of the year.

As a driving force in the African oil and gas sector, APPO emphasizes the importance of cooperation and collaboration among member countries, especially in policy-making and operations. Technical forums, such as the Forum of Chief Executive Officers of National Oil Companies and the Forum of Directors for Training, Research, Innovation, and Development, have been established to facilitate this collaboration.

 In this exclusive interview, we delve deep into Dr. Ibrahim’s vision for the future, exploring APPO’s groundbreaking initiatives, strategies for fostering collaboration among African petroleum-producing nations, and the organization’s response to the evolving global energy landscape.

Valuechain’s William Emmanuel Ukpoju embarks on a journey through the complexities and opportunities of Africa’s energy sector, guided by the unparalleled expertise and unwavering dedication of Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim.

For record purposes, we would like you to kindly introduce yourself, Sir.

My name is Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, I’m the Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), and I am also the regional chair for the Africa World Energy Council. The African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) has its Headquarters in Brazzaville, Congo and it has 18 member countries. It has been 37 years since it was founded.

Could you provide an insight into the initiatives and priorities of APPO for 2024?

Thank you very much. For APPO, we don’t look at issues in terms of months and years. We look at issues in terms of short, medium and long-term because, for the oil and gas industry, it’s not something that you will say I have started something this year and I want to achieve it this year. What we expect to materialize from what we have been working on in the last year and a half is the Africa Energy Bank. We have been working since mid–2022 on establishing the Africa Energy Bank. For this year, APPO looks forward to the take-off of Africa Energy Bank, an institution that we believe will fill the gap regarding the decisions of the countries on which we have been depending for funding our oil and gas projects, particularly in Africa. The Africa Energy Bank will become operational by the middle of this year and we look forward to it being able to provide the necessary funds for energy projects on the African continent, particularly Oil and gas projects.

How is APPO promoting collaboration among African-petroleum producing countries?

I think it is important that APPO was established in 1987 in Lagos, Nigeria; and for the first thirty-something years, collaboration or cooperation has been limited to ministerial meetings, and meetings of experts; but after the reform of APPO, a reform that was informed by the global paradigm shift from fossil fuel to renewable energies which is euphemistically called the energy transition, we came to the conclusion that, if you really want to make progress in the African oil and gas industry, no country can make that progress all by itself. We needed greater cooperation and collaboration not just in policy-making but also in operations. As a result, we established some very important technical forums. The first is the forum of Chief Executive Officers of National Oil Companies of APPO member countries. In the last two years since the establishment of that body, we have had five meetings, the sixth one will take place in Equatorial Guinea. The first was in Luanda, the second in Abuja, the third was again in Luanda, the fourth was in Algiers, fifth in Brazzaville and the sixth will be held in Equatorial Guinea.

The importance of these meetings lies in the fact that; in the last meeting for example, out of the eighteen member countries of APPO, sixteen CEOs were at that meeting in person and two were represented. We were talking about the challenges facing the industry in terms of operations – how to go about it, how to pull resources together, and why it doesn’t make sense for individual African countries to go out searching for solutions to common problems. Why don’t they come together to do this? And that’s exactly what we are doing. That same body advised on the need to establish a forum of directors, training, research, innovation and development institutions in Africa, we have had two meetings already and the third is going to be in Nigeria, sometime in April. There is now a greater understanding in Africa that the salvation of the continent lies in the hands of Africans but individually as countries, that salvation cannot come to them. They need to put their hands and resources together and that is exactly what APPO is championing and we are confident that we are on the right path. We are working towards creating regional centers of excellence in the various sectors of the oil and gas industry. In the past, every country has its training institutions and research institutions in oil and gas, but these are very expensive enterprises – you need a lot of money to say that you have excellent institutions. The only way to go about this is to come together, pull resources together and have a synergy that will enhance the oil and gas sector in Africa.

What strategies is APPO employing to address challenges such as fluctuating oil prices as they affect member countries?

To us in APPO, stabilizing the oil market is not one of our responsibilities. We do that through our members who are in OPEC. OPEC is responsible or sees it as its responsibility to work to stabilize the global oil market and in doing that, our member countries that constitute a majority of OPEC are fully on board and they do everything they can to do that. In APPO, our concern is how you address the challenges that are today facing the African oil and gas industry and these are essentially three; one is the financing of the oil and gas industry because in the last 70 to 100 years that Africa has been producing oil and gas, we have come to depend heavily on foreign financing. The second challenge is technology. Just as we have depended on foreign finance for our oil and gas, we have also depended heavily on foreign technology for our oil and gas production. Finally, we have also depended heavily on foreign markets for our oil and gas. Merely a hundred years of producing oil and gas on the African continent, Africa still exports 75% of the oil that it produces and over 45% of the gas that it produces. And this is done at a time when Africa has nearly a billion people living without access to modern energy, over six hundred million do not have access to electricity. The challenge is how do we ensure that we are able to finance our projects even if we don’t get money from the traditional funders of our industry. How do we master the technology of oil and gas when these foreigners have decided to move away with their technologies and have stopped research in oil and gas; how do we develop our own market because we have the people, we have the potential; what we have failed to do is to develop the market. And this is what APPO is doing.   

What are some of the concrete steps APPO is taking to promote gender equality and inclusivity within the sector in Africa?

Let me tell you sincerely, that I don’t believe in this gender equality in oil and gas. Anybody can go into the industry and do it; if you succeed, you succeed. I mean, you guys go and take ideas from somewhere and you come and implant it in your society, I don’t believe in it. I give women their rights, their privileges and powers just like I give men. I’m not going to say because you are a woman then… I mean don’t carry things from depraved societies and… no, I don’t want that! Sorry!

Lastly Sir, with the global shift towards renewable energy sources, how is APPO adapting its focus to embrace sustainable energy practices? We know you have been forthright concerning this issue.

We have no problems with renewable energies or what you call sustainable energy. Let me tell you sincerely, personally, I don’t believe that the current drive for energy transition is informed by a concern for the environment. I believe it is more ideologically driven because the powerful countries of today do not have or control today’s modern energy. If it’s Europe that has the reserves that are found in the Middle East and Africa today, what they will be talking about is not abandoning oil and gas but they will be talking about technologies that will make oil and gas environmentally friendly. The technologies are there but they are not determined to further develop and deploy them because they believe that if they do that, that which they call energy security will not be there. They are afraid to put their destinies in the hands of people that they can’t control yet these are the same people who are telling us “The world is a global village”; trade should be everywhere… open your borders but there are areas that they say no, we can’t open our borders because they are too secure. We want to be able to control our energy, to own it and we do not have that technology. Whether you stay with oil and gas or move to renewables, the trap is there. You are not going to abandon oil and gas for real energies that you don’t even control and you don’t have the means of producing, researching and so on. We don’t have the power to stop this, but we are not going to abandon what we have for what we hope to get. 

In conclusion Sir, do you think Nigeria stands a chance as regards situating the Africa Energy Bank Headquarters in Nigeria?

Africa Energy Bank is a project of the eighteen member countries of APPO and Afreximbank. Nigeria is a member like any of the eighteen countries. As of today, we closed the nominations, seven member countries of APPO have indicated interests, and we have sets of criteria for selection. Whichever country that meets the criteria best will get it. Yes, Nigeria is the biggest producer, yes, Nigeria has the largest population, and yes, Nigeria is a leader in the oil and gas industry in Africa, but Nigeria should not take things for granted.

What are some of these criteria that a member country should fulfill before it can be considered for the Africa Energy Bank?   

One, a country has to pay its subscription, and a country has to provide APPO with the Headquarters of the bank, fully furnished. Also, a country has to ratify the Charter of the bank and the host country agreement. These are the key items, the rest are, that the country must provide a conducive environment for banking operations.