By Tobi Awodipe

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has committed $3 billion to finance the trade of refined oil products within the continent and reduce Africa’s dependence on fuel imports.

Executive Vice-President at Afreximbank, Kanayo Awani, disclosed this while speaking at an energy conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

Awani said the investment bank was committed to boosting Africa’s refining capacity and encouraging the trade of refined oil products within the continent. He said the initiative would support the trade of key products such as premium motor spirit, automotive gas oil, heavy fuel oil, jet fuel and kerosene, under a revolving intra-African oil importing financing scheme.

He said the time had come for Africa to take control of its energy destiny, highlighting the continent’s reliance on external markets despite being rich in crude oil and natural gas.

He further noted that Africa currently exported about 80 per cent of its crude oil and 45 per cent of its natural gas, as the continent lacked the infrastructure and capacity to refine much of it locally, and added that most of sub-Saharan Africa’s refineries were outdated, operating below capacity, forcing countries to spend approximately $30 billion yearly on petroleum product imports.