Africa’s ability to expand energy production and turn natural resources into industrial growth will increasingly depend on whether its own financial institutions can provide the capital needed to develop projects, the Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), Farid Ghezali, has said.
The call was made during the 7th Angola Oil & Gas International Conference and Exhibition (AOG 2026), where Mr Ghezali participated virtually as industry stakeholders examined the future of Africa’s oil and gas sector.
His intervention places African banking institutions at the centre of a financing challenge that continues to constrain energy development across the continent.
According to Mr Ghezali, projects with commercial potential are still struggling to secure the financial backing required to move from plans to implementation.
The concern extends beyond oil and gas production. Africa requires investment in refineries, gas infrastructure, electricity generation, pipelines and other energy infrastructure if its resource wealth is to translate into broader economic activity.
“The success of our energy sector cannot be measured solely by the number of barrels produced or exported. It must also be measured by the electricity generated, the jobs created and the value returned to our economies.”
Farid Ghezali, Secretary-General, APPO
African Capital Must Back Energy Infrastructure
Mr Ghezali’s argument centres on the need to strengthen Africa’s financial capacity rather than leaving strategic energy development overwhelmingly dependent on foreign capital.
He urged banks across the continent to increase financing for viable energy projects, particularly investments capable of creating economic value beyond the initial extraction of oil and gas.
That includes infrastructure for refining and gas utilisation, alongside industries that can create local supply chains and employment.
The approach is particularly relevant as several African producers seek to reduce their exposure to imported refined petroleum products while expanding domestic gas use for electricity and industrial activity.
A larger role for African banks could also help ensure that more of the economic returns generated by energy projects remain within the continent.
The Value-Addition Challenge
Africa’s energy resources have historically generated significant export revenues without necessarily producing equivalent levels of industrial transformation.
Mr Ghezali’s remarks challenge that model by placing greater emphasis on what happens after extraction.
For oil-producing countries, this means developing refining and petrochemical capacity. For gas producers, it means connecting production to power generation and industrial consumers.
Across both sectors, the objective is to create businesses and value chains around the resource rather than treating exports as the final economic outcome.
The same principle increasingly applies to Ghana.
With Ghana continuing to develop its domestic gas infrastructure, petroleum-processing ambitions and wider power sector, access to long-term financing will remain critical.
Domestic banks have an opportunity to participate more substantially in projects that can strengthen energy security while generating commercial returns.
However, greater domestic financing cannot simply mean replacing international investors with local banks.
Energy projects often require long-tenor financing and substantial risk absorption that exceed the capacity of individual commercial banks.
A more effective model would combine African bank financing with development finance, guarantees, institutional capital and private investment.
Ghana’s Energy Financing Gap
For Ghana, the issue is particularly important because energy investment requirements extend across several interconnected parts of the economy.
Additional gas infrastructure can support thermal power generation; improved transmission can increase the value of available generation capacity; refining investment can reduce exposure to imported petroleum products; while industrial energy projects can create demand capable of supporting new infrastructure.
The financing structure therefore matters almost as much as the volume of capital mobilised.
If financing continues to concentrate on individual projects without addressing the infrastructure connecting production to consumers, Ghana risks expanding energy assets without capturing their full economic value.
The emerging lesson from Africa’s energy market is that energy finance must increasingly be tied to industrial strategy.
Projects that generate electricity, support manufacturing, create local businesses and strengthen regional trade offer a wider economic return than investments focused exclusively on resource extraction.
From Oil Production To Economic Transformation
AOG 2026 has placed these questions within the broader discussion about Africa’s energy future, including exploration, production, energy transition and sustainability.
Mr Ghezali said Angola’s ambition to derive greater economic value from its energy resources reflects a wider continental objective of using natural resources to support industry, technology, entrepreneurship and regional integration.
For African economies, that represents a necessary shift in emphasis.
The central financing question is no longer simply whether investors can be found for another oil or gas project.
It is whether sufficient capital can be mobilised for the entire energy ecosystem required to turn resources into electricity, industries, jobs and public revenue.
That is where African banks could become more consequential. Their deeper involvement in energy financing could help move the continent from being primarily a destination for resource extraction towards becoming a stronger producer, processor and consumer of its own energy resources.
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