African Energy Week: Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah will Receive African Energy Person of the Year Award - Seite 2

During the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, more than 20 countries and financial institutions pledged to stop public financing for overseas fossil fuel projects. Foreign investment in African oil and gas projects was rapidly drying up, and we at the chamber felt the only way forward was an African solution. We started calling for an African energy bank that would finance the continent's energy projects and allow African nations to transition from fossil fuels to renewables on their own timetable. Dr. Oramah immediately put his support behind that idea.

That support helped pave the way for Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) to sign a memorandum of understanding in May 2022 and agree to collaborate on the establishment of an African Energy Transition Bank.

"These are challenging times when we must strive to strike the right balance between the imperatives of mitigating climate change and the urgency of averting social upheavals as a result of increasingly difficult economic and financial conditions in Africa," Dr Oramah said at the time.

His cooperation with APPO was one of many ways Dr Oramah has shown himself to be a true champion of the continent's energy sector.

Under Dr. Oramah's direction, Afreximbank has repeatedly helped national oil companies get the funding they need. Just this year, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited secured a $5 billion corporate finance commitment from Afreximbank, financing that will support major, and critically needed, investments in Nigeria's upstream sector.

Oramah has been a voice of reason during a critical time for Africa's energy sector. He has clearly stated that balance is the key to a just energy transition, one that moves the world closer to its net-zero ambitions, and at the same time, gives Africa the same opportunities to capitalize on its petroleum reserves as other countries have realized.

The African Energy Chamber is proud to recognize Dr. Oramah, a champion for Africa and a role model for Africans.

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SOURCE: African Energy Week

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