At the Angola Oil & Gas 2025 Conference and Exhibition on September 3, Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), confirmed that the long-anticipated Africa Energy Bank is on the verge of its official launch.
In his keynote address, Ibrahim revealed that the launch date will be finalized at the upcoming Council of Ministers meeting of APPO member states. Spearheaded by APPO in collaboration with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the $5 billion institution is designed to finance oil, gas, and infrastructure projects across Africa. The bank will be headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria, with Angola among the member nations that have already honored their $100 million capital commitment.
“APPO is fully conscious of the serious challenges facing the African oil and gas industry and is taking practical measures to address them. One of those measures was initiated in Luanda three years ago when the APPO Ministerial Council approved the signing of an MoU with Afreximbank for the establishment of the Africa Energy Bank,” Ibrahim said.
Momentum around the project has been building since August 2025, when APPO announced plans to accelerate the bank’s creation. The Executive Council resolved to secure final approval in the last quarter of the year, positioning the launch for imminent confirmation.
Calling on global and regional investors, Ibrahim emphasized Africa’s readiness to finance and drive its own energy future. “The African oil and gas industry has come of age. Africa cannot continue to depend on external powers to finance its oil and gas. Africa must control the finances of its oil and gas industry. Africa must create the technology it needs, as well as its own market for its oil and gas resources,” he said.
The Africa Energy Bank represents a landmark shift in Africa’s energy financing landscape, aiming to close investment gaps while strengthening local ownership of the continent’s oil and gas value chain.
