Afreximbank targets $5.18bn oil and gas pipeline to deepen Angola’s local ownership

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is targeting a $5.18 billion pipeline of oil and gas projects in Angola as it seeks to help more local companies move beyond service contracts into asset ownership and larger operating roles.

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The financing opportunities were highlighted at the bank’s Local Content Development Forum in Luanda on September 9, which brought together government institutions, financial institutions, indigenous companies and industry operators to examine how financing, partnerships and transaction structures could expand domestic participation across Angola’s petroleum value chain.

The pipeline includes $2.5 billion for Lobito Oil, $1.4 billion for Amufert, $1 billion for Sonangol and $280 million for Itracom.

The forum comes as Angola seeks to deepen the role of domestic companies in an oil and gas industry that remains central to its economy. For Afreximbank, the focus is no longer only on helping local firms secure contracts in the sector, but on giving them access to the capital and structures needed to acquire assets, operate them and grow into larger African energy companies.

“Angola has built a strong platform for its energy sector, with Afreximbank playing a longstanding role in structuring, financing and mobilising capital to support its development at scale,” Haytham Elmaayergi, Executive Vice President, Global Trade Bank, Afreximbank, said.

“The next phase is about enabling more Angolan companies to move from participation and service provision towards ownership and scale, drawing on the experience of successful indigenous African operators to turn that ambition into bankable transactions and build the next generation of national and regional champions.”

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Afreximbank has invested close to $2 billion in Angola’s oil and gas sector, with its previous engagement including transactions involving the Cabinda Refinery, Amufert, Sonangol and Etu Energias.

The latest initiative is aimed at broadening that financing to more indigenous companies and addressing some of the constraints that prevent them from taking on larger projects.

Participants at the forum identified access to suitable financing, bankability, execution capacity and market access among the main barriers facing local companies.

The discussions also examined how government agencies, local banks, international financial institutions, industry operators and investors could work together to turn identified projects into bankable transactions.

Berta Rodrigues Issa, President of the Association of Indigenous Companies for the Oil Industry of Angola (ASSEA), said local content should be viewed as a route to building productive capacity rather than simply increasing the number of local firms participating in contracts.

“A country does not industrialise merely by exporting more than it imports. It industrialises when it transforms its resources, develops productive capacity and builds companies capable of competing beyond its borders,” she said.

Issa said the bank’s “From Resources to Value” theme aligned with Angola’s local-content ambitions, adding that participation by Angolan-owned companies should not be limited to one-off contracts.

“For ASSEA, Local Content cannot be limited to the participation of Angolan-owned companies in one-off contracts. It must be a deliberate path towards capacity building, industrialization and competitiveness,” she said.

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The forum drew on experiences from other African oil-producing countries, particularly Nigeria, where indigenous companies have taken on larger ownership and operating positions through major acquisitions.

Oando’s $783 million acquisition of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company increased its interests in OMLs 60 to 63 from 20 percent to 40 percent. Heirs Energies also acquired a 45 percent interest in OML 17 and assumed operatorship of the asset.

Afreximbank presented the transactions as examples of how African companies can use financing and structured deals to move from supplying international oil companies to owning and operating major energy assets.

The approach reflects a broader effort to retain more value from Africa’s natural resources within the continent by strengthening the financial and technical capacity of domestic firms.

For Angola, the immediate challenge will be turning the identified $5.18 billion pipeline into transactions that local companies can finance and execute, while ensuring that greater domestic participation translates into lasting industrial capacity.

The forum therefore placed financing at the centre of Angola’s local-content drive, with Afreximbank positioning its lending, transaction-structuring and advisory capabilities as tools for helping indigenous companies take larger positions across the oil and gas value chain.