Key facts
- Afreximbank and APPO established the Africa Energy Bank with $5 billion to finance oil and gas projects across Africa.
- Oil and gas investment in Africa fell from $68 billion in 2016 to about $37 billion in 2025, per Business Insider Africa.
- The IPPG says Africa needs $200 billion in annual energy investment.
- About 600 million people across Africa lack access to electricity, the report said.
- Africa holds 60 percent of the world's best solar power potential but 1% of installed solar capacity, the report said.
Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers' Organisation (APPO) have established the Africa Energy Bank, a $5 billion institution intended to finance oil and gas projects across Africa, according to a report published November 3, 2026. The report did not give the date the bank was set up.
The report, citing Business Insider Africa, said the establishment followed years of efforts by Afreximbank and APPO to create an African-led financing institution for energy projects that have struggled to attract funding from international lenders. It said oil and gas investment in Africa fell from $68 billion in 2016 to about $37 billion in 2025.
The Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) says Africa needs $200 billion in annual energy investment, the report said. About 600 million people across Africa lack access to electricity, and the report said energy demand in the region is expected to increase threefold over the next decade.
The report said Africa holds 60 percent of the world's best solar power potential but just 1% of installed solar power production capacity. It said wealthy nations had promised $100 billion a year to help poorer countries decarbonize, and that the money never materialized.
S&P Global, in a March thought leadership report cited by the article, said the continent must turn investment appetite into bankable projects or risk deepening energy poverty. The report said $5 billion is far below the hundreds of billions it says the continent needs.