By Isaac Anyaogu
LAGOS (Reuters) -The Africa Energy Bank, which will fund oil and gas projects and support the continent’s energy transition goals, will launch in the first quarter of 2025 and target an asset base of $120 billion, Nigeria’s junior oil minister said on Tuesday.
The fossil fuel-focused bank, a partnership between trade finance institution Afrexim Bank and the African Petroleum Producers Organization, was due to start operations by mid-2024, an Afreximbank official said last year.
“The building is ready, and we are only putting finishing touches to it, by the end of this quarter, this bank will take off,” said Nigerian junior oil minister Heineken Lokpobiri.
The minister joked that Nigeria too will follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s mantra on increasing oil drilling and remove all impediments to grow oil production to 2.5 million barrels per day this year. Currently Nigeria’s crude output averages 1.7 million bpd.
Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, beat three rival African countries for the right to host the multilateral lender.
(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Jan Harvey)
