The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has unveiled a $3 billion revolving credit facility aimed at helping African and Caribbean countries cut their dependence on imported fuel. The initiative will enable regional buyers to source petrol, diesel, jet fuel, and other petroleum products from refineries within the continent.
Expected to generate $10–14 billion in trade finance over the next three years, the facility targets Africa’s annual $30 billion fuel import bill. By promoting intra-African trade and easing access to regional supply chains, the programme is designed to strengthen energy security and reduce exposure to global market disruptions.
Oil-importing countries across the continent have been hit by a combination of falling global crude prices and rising freight and insurance costs. Brent crude prices have dropped more than 20% since January, while tensions in the Red Sea have pushed up shipping insurance premiums, raising the cost of fuel cargoes significantly.
By enabling buyers to lock in credit and source fuel closer to home, the credit line offers a buffer against global shocks. The programme also aligns with Afreximbank’s wider push to increase refining capacity across the region.
The Cairo-based bank is currently the largest financier of Nigeria’s 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery, and has supported upgrades to the Port Harcourt refinery. It is also arranging funding for new facilities in Angola and Ivory Coast. Collectively, these projects could add over 1.3 million barrels per day of refining capacity across the continent.
“The programme will galvanise efforts towards making the Gulf of Guinea a key refining hub,” said Afreximbank president Benedict Oramah.
The credit line—known as the Revolving Intra-African Oil Import Financing Programme—will provide letters of credit, advance payments, and discounting services to state-owned fuel importers, private traders, and energy ministries buying from African refineries.
This move is also viewed as a significant test of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), aimed at accelerating intra-African trade and industrial development.
Afreximbank is additionally expected to take a controlling stake in Atmin, a new oil trading house founded by former Shell traders, which will focus exclusively on African oil trading, according to industry sources.