FG pledges extra funding to launch Africa Energy Bank
The Federal Government has said it is ready to provide additional funding to the Africa Energy Bank to ensure its takeoff, following delays by some African countries in meeting their capital subscription commitments.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2026 Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference in Lagos.
Despite Nigeria already contributing 70 per cent of the bank’s capital, Lokpobiri said the country is prepared to cover the remaining funding gap should other African nations fail to fulfil their obligations.
In 2024, President Bola Tinubu approved a $100m investment for a class A share in the bank, positioning Nigeria favourably to host the multilateral $5bn Africa Energy Bank, which will finance energy projects across the continent.
“Africa’s problem, largely, is access to capital. That’s why the African Petroleum Producers Organisation came up with the idea of an African energy bank,” Lokpobiri said.
He noted that Nigeria had earned the trust of other African nations to host the bank’s headquarters and had fulfilled all its responsibilities as the host country. The headquarters was handed over to the African Petroleum Producers Organisation and Afrexim Bank in Abuja last week.
“We’ve handed the headquarters over to them, and we have given them a timeline within which the bank has to be launched. Nigeria, as the host country, has obligations, and we have met all obligations,” he said.
The minister added that during a meeting with African counterparts in Abuja on Monday, Nigeria offered to raise the remaining balance of the minimum capital if delays persisted.
“When my colleagues in Africa came to Abuja, and we had a meeting on Monday, I told them that if they are going to delay raising the balance of the minimum capital needed, Nigeria will raise it so the bank can take off, and they were very excited,” Lokpobiri said.
Drawing a parallel with the African Export-Import Bank, he explained that it was not unusual for a few countries to shoulder the initial funding burden for continental financial institutions.
“When Afrexim Bank started, not all countries raised their capital at the same time. A few countries had to raise the capital, and the bank started. Today, the bank is huge,” he said.
Lokpobiri stressed that the Africa Energy Bank must commence operations without further delay to support oil and gas financing across Africa.
“This specialised bank needs to take off without any further delay so that we will be able to raise the funding needed. If we have to solve Africa’s energy problem, the solution is raising capital to finance Africa’s oil and gas projects,” he said.
The minister also accused countries in the global North of using financing as a tool to undermine Africa’s energy ambitions, insisting that the continent must develop homegrown solutions.
“The global North has always used financing as a weapon against the continent, and this is the time for us to find a homegrown solution to our financing problem,” he said.
He further disclosed that investors from the Middle East and other regions had shown interest in the bank and would commit funds once operations begin.
“There are people ready from the Middle East, from Saudi Arabia, from everywhere; when the bank takes off, they will also invest capital to finance projects in Africa,” Lokpobiri said.
As SAIPEC marked its 10th edition, Lokpobiri urged the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria to set targets for the next decade and assured them of the Federal Government’s support. He stressed the need to reduce the cost of oil production, noting that Nigeria’s cost per barrel remains among the highest globally.
In his address, PETAN Chairman Wole Ogunsanya said Africa’s energy future must be defined by Africans for Africans.
“Over 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity, and industrial growth is constrained by energy deficits. For us, energy transition is not about abandoning hydrocarbons; it is about leveraging our resources responsibly to drive development, while gradually integrating cleaner and renewable solutions,” he said.
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