The African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) signed the African Energy Bank into implementation in June 2024, kickstarting a new era of oil and gas financing in Africa. Offering an alternative source of funding for African hydrocarbon projects, the bank is expected to play a major part in advancing project development in both emerging and mature markets such as Angola.
APPO Secretary General Omar, Farouk Ibrahim, will speak at the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) conference scheduled for October 2-3 in Luanda. Ibrahim’s return to the conference reflects the growing importance of Angola as a major African producer and creates fresh opportunities for collaboration among APPO members, international oil companies and junior exploration and production companies.
The African Energy Bank was created out of a need to enhance access to financing in Africa’s oil and gas industry. Given the catalyzing role hydrocarbons play in driving economic growth and energy security, the bank offers newfound avenues to finance and move projects forward. With an initial start-up capital of $5 billion – raised from $83 million in subscription fees by its member states – the bank’s implementation comes as Angola opens 29 blocks for exploration – including the country’s first-ever marginal fields. The strategic timing of the implementation creates greater opportunity for companies to finance new projects in Angola’s upstream sector.
In 2025, Angola will launch its next limited public tender, offering ten blocks for exploration in the Kwanza and Benguela basins. At present, 11 blocks are available on permanent offer as well as four onshore blocks. The country is also promoting investment in marginal fields – creating the opportunity for junior players to contribute to project development in basins with a commercial track record. As a founding member of APPO, Angola has leveraged its participation in the organization to strengthen its regulatory and legal landscape to entice investment in blocks opportunities. The country is recognized as both an attractive market to do business – given its strong regulatory frameworks – as well as a strategic market to invest – given its multi-year licensing structure and proven petroleum systems.
Meanwhile, APPO facilitates cooperation within the refining, petrochemical, transportation and distribution industries, engaging with member countries to promote fuel security in Africa. Angola itself has ambitions to become a regional petroleum hub, given its stable production and renewed focus on downstream infrastructure development. On the logistics side, Angola’s integrated terminal and logistics hub in Soyo – with a capacity to produce 65,000 barrels per day (bpd) and store two million barrels – will start operations in 2026. The project offers investors an exemption on imports and a ten-year tax holiday, Additionally, The Kwanza Terminal and Pipeline Routes Project – offering similar incentives to that of the Soyo project – will start operations in 2029. The project will produce 25,000 bpd with a storage capacity of one million barrels.
Meanwhile, on the refining side, Angola has three new refineries under construction aimed at enhancing capacity and supporting regional petroleum distribution. These include the 200,000 bpd Lobito refinery, coming online by 2026; the 100,000 bpd Soyo refinery, coming online in 2025; and the 60,000 bpd Cabinda refinery, the first phase of which will come online in 2024. During AOG 2024, Ibrahim will discuss the impact these developments will have on Africa’s energy security and the need to increase investment in oil and gas projects.