Africa Needs More Than $200 bln Annually In Energy Investment By 2030, IPPG Chairman

Africa needs more than $200 billion in annual energy investment by 2030 to develop its oil and gas resources, expand electricity generation and distribution and grow clean energy, the chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), Adegbite Falade, said.

Speaking at the recently concluded Africa Oil Week (AOW) 2026 in Accra, Ghana, Falade said Africa currently attracts just over half of the investment it requires.

“Africa, which accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s population, attracts only about three per cent of global energy investment,” he said.

“If Africa is to secure its energy future in an era of international capital retreat, we must look inward and build our own institutional and financial resilience,” Falade said.

He identified the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) as critical to closing the financing gap, saying its establishment by the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) and Afreximbank was an important step towards financing Africa’s energy future.

“The AEB is purpose-built to bridge the upstream and midstream financing gap left by traditional global financiers,” Falade said.

“This is Africa’s clearest statement yet that we intend to finance our own hydrocarbon future, rather than wait indefinitely for others to do so,” he added.

Falade urged African producers to develop bankable projects and actively originate high-impact investments that can attract financing.

“It is imperative African producers actively originate high-impact, bankable projects,” he said.

He also called for increased investment in gas infrastructure.

“Today, natural gas already generates around 40 per cent of this continent’s electricity,” Falade said, noting that Africa has less than 50,000 km of oil and gas trunk pipelines, compared with more than 200,000 km in Europe.

“Reserves without pipelines are simply stranded molecules benefiting no one,” he said.

Meanwhile, former APPO Secretary-General Omar Farouk said the AEB is expected to commence operations in October 2026.

“All hurdles have been overcome and I can confidently say that the bank has come close to starting operations,” Farouk said.