After 4-year Wait, $5bn Africa Energy Bank Takes Off, With Helmy Ghazi As Pioneer President

The $5 billion Africa Energy Bank (AEB) has formally begun operations, four years after African petroleum ministers first approved its creation, with Egyptian banker Helmy Ghazi appointed as its pioneer president. The launch was announced in Abuja on Saturday, October 31, 2026, by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO).
The bank’s establishment marks a major step in Africa’s effort to build an indigenous financing institution for its energy sector at a time when global lenders and investors are increasingly withdrawing from fossil-fuel projects. Its backers say the AEB will help African countries fund energy infrastructure, ...