Egyptian Banker Named 1st President for Africa Energy Bank

The African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have formally launched the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) to finance oil and gas projects across the continent as traditional international lenders scale back funding for fossil fuel developments. AEB’s inaugural meeting, which took place in Abuja, Nigeria, witnessed the appointment of the Egyptian banker Helmy Ghazi as the bank’s first president and the formation of its first Board of Directors, Reuters reported.

The bank has an authorised capital of US$5 billion and will finance projects across the energy value chain, including oil and gas exploration and production, transportation, processing, refining, and distribution.

Ghazi is a senior banking executive and strategic advisor with 28 years of leadership experience at HSBC across corporate and investment banking in Egypt and the MENA region. He has a proven track record of advising sovereigns, national institutions, multinationals, and corporations, and is an expert at structuring complex financing solutions with a strong focus on energy and infrastructure initiatives in emerging markets, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Africa’s energy investment needs are estimated at US$200 billion, creating a financing gap the new institution aims to address while strengthening African participation in the energy industry, Reuters noted. The bank will operate as an independent, pan-African financial institution, seeking to mobilize funding from African governments, national oil companies (NOCs), financial institutions, and private investors.

Its mandate also includes strengthening the continent’s energy production capacity, reducing dependence on imported petroleum products, and expanding intra-African energy trade. Afreximbank and APPO signed the establishment agreement and charter for the Africa Energy Bank in Cairo in June 2024, in a ceremony witnessed by then Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla.

In February 2025, Reuters reported that the bank was targeting a mid-2025 launch, with South Africa expressing interest in joining despite not being an APPO member. At the time, Afreximbank said it was raising capital from participating countries ahead of the start of operations.