Export-Import Bank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization formally launched the Africa Energy Bank, a new lender with $5 billion in authorized capital aimed at filling a widening financing gap for the continent’s oil, gas and broader energy industry.

The establishment of the lender was announced at its inaugural general meeting in Abuja on Saturday, Afreximbank and APPO said. Helmy Ghazi was appointed the bank’s first president and an inaugural board of directors was constituted.

The Africa Energy Bank is being created as traditional lenders retreat from financing fossil-fuel projects, even as oil and gas remain a key part of the continent’s energy mix. Africa’s energy investment needs are estimated at about $200 billion, according to the statement.

The bank will finance projects across the energy value chain, including exploration and production, transportation, processing, refining and distribution. It will also seek to expand African participation in the industry, reduce dependence on imported petroleum products and boost intra-African energy trade.

The lender will operate as an independent, supranational pan-African financial institution and seek funding from governments, national oil companies, financial institutions and private investors.

Afreximbank and APPO said the lender will also support Africa’s energy transition while helping countries secure the investment needed to expand power generation and transmission. Greater energy investment is needed to accelerate industrialization and enable African economies to take advantage of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, they said.