Agreement signed to create African Energy Bank
An agreement for the creation of the African Energy Bank (AEB) was signed today in Egypt by the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), declaring it open for signature by potential member states.
The signing of the Agreement
The historic signing of the establishment agreement and charter of the African Energy Bank was held between Afreximbank Chairman Benedict Oramah, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of this new bank, and APPO Secretary General Omar Farouk Ibrahim.
“It is a great honor to witness the creation of the African Energy Bank.”
“This moment marks an important step in our continent's march towards energy independence and sustainable development.”
Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, who chaired the event, said in a statement.
In turn, the president of Afreximbank said that “in these difficult times”, it is necessary “finding the right balance between the imperatives of climate change mitigation and the urgency of avoiding social upheaval resulting from increasingly difficult economic and financial conditions in Africa. "
Reiterating that this new bank is Africa's response to the imminent financial challenge posed by the global paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy for the African oil and gas industry, the APPO Secretary General stated that:
“For too long, the African oil and gas industry has been dependent on financing from outside Africa.a".
To Omar Farouk Ibrahim;
“Africa cannot afford to abandon oil and gas in a hurry while the majority of its population lives without access to energy.”
According to the statement, the signing ceremony marks the end of two years of negotiations and preparations by the two parties, who signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2022 for the creation of the African Energy Bank.
The African Energy Bank was structured as an independent, supranational pan-African energy development bank with an initial capital of US$5 billion.
Afreximbank
Afreximbank is a pan-African multilateral financial institution, established under the auspices of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and a financier of African governments and private companies in support of inter-African trade.
The institution launched, in 2023, at its annual meeting held in Accra, the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS), which was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to support the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The African Petroleum Producers Organization
The African Petroleum Producers Organization (formerly the African Petroleum Producers Association, APPA) was founded on 27 January 1987 in Lagos, Nigeria, by eight African oil and gas producing countries: Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Egypt, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria and Tunisia.
Since then, the organization has welcomed 10 full members (Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Namibia, Niger, Senegal and South Africa) and one honorary member (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), bringing the total number of full members to 18.
Picture: © 2024 Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum
