Africa Energy Bank opens in Abuja with Egyptian banker Helmy Ghazi as first president
- The $5 billion Africa Energy Bank formally began operations after its first General Assembly in Abuja.
- Egyptian banker Helmy Ghazi, formerly of HSBC Egypt, was named the bank's pioneer president.
- Backers say it will help fill a $200 billion energy investment gap as foreign lenders pull back from fossil fuels.
The Africa Energy Bank has formally opened for business, with Egyptian banker Helmy Ghazi named as its first president. The announcement came after the bank's inaugural General Assembly, held in Abuja on Saturday, 31 October 2026.
The launch was disclosed in a joint statement by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers' Organisation (APPO), the body behind the project. Delegates at the meeting appointed Ghazi and set up the bank's first Board of Directors, drawing members from government, the private sector and policy institutions across the continent.
The bank is set up as an independent, pan-African institution with $5 billion in authorised capital. It is expected to raise money from governments, national oil companies, financial institutions and private investors.
Why it matters
Africa's energy investment needs are put at about $200 billion. At the same time, the traditional lenders that once funded oil and gas projects are stepping back from fossil fuels, even though oil and gas still power much of the continent's economy.
The bank's backers say it will help close that gap. It is expected to fund oil and gas production, power generation and transmission lines, refining, storage and distribution. It will also back projects tied to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, which need large and steady supplies of electricity.
Officials describe the plan as a "just energy transition" — letting African countries develop their own resources while widening access to electricity and building industry. For ordinary Nigerians, the practical test will be whether the money reaches projects that improve power supply and create jobs.
Ghazi previously worked at HSBC Bank Egypt as Deputy CEO and Managing Director, Head of Global Banking. He has more than 25 years of banking experience, including risk management and international markets.
His first tasks will be to get the bank running, tighten its governance and investment rules, bring in more capital and start funding viable energy projects.
Afreximbank, a joint funder, had approved $1.7 billion as an investment in the bank as of 2024. APPO has 18 member countries, all of them oil or gas producers or both. Nigeria's government said in 2024 that plans to base the $5 billion bank in Abuja were on course.
What happens next
The new board and president are expected to put the bank's operating and investment framework in place before the first projects are approved. No timeline for the first financing deals was given in the statements.
