Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire are among the main candidates to host the headquarters of the emerging African Energy Bank (AEB), business news agency Ecofin reported.
The host will be selected this month and all organizational work to create the bank must be completed by June 30, according to analytical company S&P.
The bank reportedly intends to secure an initial funding of $5 billion from African signatories, international financiers, and Middle Eastern states.
The AEB's mission is to provide a powerful impetus to energy development on the African continent through investment, including in the private sector. The initiator of the creation of the bank is the African Petroleum Producers Organization, which unites 18 countries. Its headquarters is located in the capital of the Republic of Congo — the city of Brazzaville.
Interestingly, Nigeria wants to host another major financial project in Africa — the African Central Bank, which should be launched by 2028. Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu proposed in February to host the bank in his country's capital, Abuja.
According to the African Union's website, the purpose of the African Central Bank "will be to build a common monetary policy and single African currency as a way to accelerate economic integration."