…We’ve mobilized the minimum capital required for the Bank’s takeoff – Lokpobiri
By Saidu Abubakar
Nigeria has today, Saturday 31st of October, 2026, yet, achieved another historic milestone by ensuring that a six-year journey has culminated into a profound reality when the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) whose headquarters the country offered to house, officially took off in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, where the Bank’s inaugural General Assembly was held.
Formally established by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), AEB’s shareholders appointed Helmy Ghazi as the bank’s first President and constituted its first Board of Directors. In a joint statement, Afreximbank and APPO said the first General Assembly appointed Helmy Ghazi as the bank’s inaugural President.
In his remarks at the occasion, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), His Excellency Heineken Lokpobiri, PhD, stated that when this initiative was first announced in 2022, not everyone believed that it could succeed.
He noted that there were sceptics who questioned whether African countries and institutions possessed the collective determination, resources, and institutional capacity to establish such a bank.
“Some doubted our ability to mobilize the required capital. Others questioned whether we could secure the necessary legal agreements, political commitments, and institutional arrangements.
There were those who believed that the initiative was too ambitious and that Africa would be unable to overcome the many challenges associated with establishing an international financial institution. But the promoters of the Africa Energy Bank refused to be discouraged.”
“They believed in the vision. They believed in the strength of African cooperation. Most importantly, they believed in Africa’s ability to take responsibility for its own development.
“Four and a half years later, we stand here with a compelling answer to those doubts.
“We have developed an Establishment Agreement and Charter for the Bank. These instruments have been signed and ratified by the required number of participating countries, giving the Bank its international legal foundation.
“We have secured a headquarters here in Abuja, fully furnished and ready to support the Bank’s operations.
“We have mobilized the minimum capital required for the Bank’s takeoff.
“We have appointed a President to lead the institution and External Auditors to support its financial accountability.
“We have successfully convened the first Constituent Assembly of the Bank.
And, with the holding of the inaugural General Meeting, and the appointment of a Board of Directors today, Lokpobiri added, “we have crossed another critical institutional milestone, completing the essential preparatory steps for the Bank’s formal launch.”
The bank has an authorised capital of US$5 billion. It is structured as an independent, supranational pan-African financial institution and will seek investment from governments, national oil companies, financial institutions and private investors. Its mandate covers the full energy value chain, including exploration and production, transportation, processing, refining and distribution.
The creation of the Africa Energy Bank reaffirms African governments’ determination to secure their own energy future, the duo of Afreximbank and APPO said in their joint statement.
They put the continent’s energy investment needs at US$200 billion, citing the investment in power generation and transmission required to support industrial growth and emerging technologies, notably artificial intelligence, at a time when traditional financiers are withdrawing from fossil fuels even though oil and gas remain vital to Africa’s energy systems.
“The Africa Energy Bank aims to bridge this financing gap while supporting a just energy transition for African countries,” the statement added.
The founders said the bank would aim to strengthen productive capacity, reduce dependence on imported petroleum products, promote intra-African energy trade and expand African participation in the industry.
Aside from Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), the meeting was also attended by Dr. George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank; and Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy and APPO President for 2026.