By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
Nigeria alongside 17 other member countries under the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) in collaboration with The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have concluded plans to establish a $5 billion, which is equivalent to N3.9 trillion, African Energy Bank (AEB).
The Secretary General of APPO, Mr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, disclosed this on Monday during a media briefing that was held on the sidelines of the ongoing 24th World Petroleum Congress(WPC) in Calgary, Canada.
Ibrahim explained that the establishment of the bank is necessary to address the funding challenge often associated with oil and gas projects.
According to him, the AEB will be an independent supra-national financial institution whose main objective is to close the gap resulting from the decision of Western financiers of the industry to discontinue funding the industry, especially in Africa.
He said that the bank will be open to all investors who share its vision that Africa will need to use all forms of available energy for the foreseeable future in order to eliminate the huge poverty on the continent, saying that is not to say that AEB will not look into other energies.
The APPO Boss, while speaking on strategies to address the challenges of technology and expertise, said that a team from the Secretariat undertook an assessment tour of oil and gas research, development, innovation and training institutions in APPO member countries, with a view to establishing the professional level of these institutions.
In his own words, “we were pleasantly surprised at the level of advancement of many of the institutions visited, in terms of their training programs, facilities and equipment, as well as faculties. We concluded that given the huge financial requirements for establishing high class oil and gas research and training institutions, APPO member countries need not all establish these institutions. Instead, each country can establish institutions for training oil and gas technicians, as well as middle level personnel.