As the global economy surges deeper into the artificial intelligence era, a hard truth is emerging beneath the hype around algorithms and automation: energy — not software — will define the next hierarchy of global power.
This was the central thesis of Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, who delivered a keynote lecture titled “The African Energy Bank: Financing Africa’s Energy Future” at the 23rd Annual Aret Adams Memorial Lecture Series, 2026.
According to him, the proposed African Energy Bank is not just another multilateral financial institution. It is a strategic necessity in a world confronting a deepening structural energy imbalance. “The world moved aggressively toward ‘no fossil fuels. But energy demand did not disappear”, he said.
Rewane said every artificial intelligence query consumes electricity. As AI adoption accelerates globally — from data centres to autonomous systems — computing power demand is surging, and with it, electricity consumption.
The shift away from hydrocarbons, driven by ESG mandates and net-zero commitments, he said has simultaneously restricted traditional fossil fuel financing. Yet renewable energy has not scaled quickly enough to close the supply gap.
The result is a structural imbalance in global energy markets — global in scope, but particularly severe in Africa.
On the African Energy Paradox, Rewane noted that Africa accounts for about 18 percent of the world’s population but produces less than 2 percent of global output. The continent holds abundant natural gas, crude oil, solar, wind and hydro resources, yet remains the least electrified region in the world.
Nigeria, he said, exemplifies the contradiction with ambitions of building a $1 trillion economy, its electricity consumption per capita stands at roughly 173 kilowatt-hours annually — compared to more than 13,000 kWh in the United States.
Energy poverty translates directly into economic underperformance. Low consumption correlates with limited industrial productivity, constrained manufacturing growth and weaker social indicators.
“Produce energy, consume it efficiently, and use it productively — life expectancy and prosperity improve,” Rewane argued. Yet Nigeria’s power sector remains structurally constrained. Installed generation capacity exceeds transmission capability. Billions of dollars have been spent over decades with limited systemic reform. Infrastructure bottlenecks persist across generation, transmission and distribution.
He noted that from the agrarian revolution to coal-powered industrialisation, through the oil age and into the digital era, every major leap in global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been powered by an energy transformation.
According to him, each wave created prosperity — but also widened inequality adding that countries that managed resources strategically advanced. Those that mismanaged them stagnated.
He explained: Six decades ago, Nigeria’s GDP per capita was comparable to China’s. Today, the divergence is stark. China, now the world’s second-largest economy, built its ascent on energy-intensive industrialisation and now consumes nearly twice as much electricity as the United States. India, once economically aligned with Pakistan at independence, ranks among the world’s top five economies, propelled by policy continuity and resource discipline.
Read Also: Senate rejects fresh amendment to 2026 Electoral Act, tells opposition to follow due process
“Resources are not enough. Management determines outcomes”, Rewane stressed. It is against this backdrop that the proposed African Energy Bank takes on continental significance.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had urged African nations to finance their own energy ambitions, noting that nearly $4 trillion in African savings remains underutilised. Minister of State for Petroleum Heineken Lokpobiri has described the bank as a vehicle to close the continent’s financing gap — particularly for natural gas development as a transition fuel.
Rewane drew historical parallels with the creation of the African Development Bank in 1964. While Côte d’Ivoire hosted the institution, it deliberately avoided monopolising leadership — a diplomatic strategy that built continental trust.
His caution was pointed: governance credibility will determine whether the African Energy Bank inspires confidence or geopolitical friction.
“This is not a game for rookies,” he warned. “It requires deep capital, institutional discipline and governance credibility.”
Related News
Afreximbank assesses readiness of Africa Energy Bank
The financing gap is vast. The World Bank Group committed about $100 billion to energy projects over the past decade. The European Investment Bank deployed €168 billion into renewable energy and efficiency in the same period. The African Development Bank’s capital base exceeds $200 billion.
Against that backdrop, a proposed $5 billion capitalisation for the African Energy Bank appears modest.
Rewane also highlighted valuation disparities among national oil champions. Saudi Aramco commands a market value approaching $2 trillion. Petrobras exceeds $100 billion. Nigeria’s NNPC Limited, despite decades of operation, trails significantly.
Policy reversals have compounded the challenge. In 2007, refinery assets sold to private investors were later reversed, delaying reform momentum. Years afterward, private capital stepped in through multi-billion-dollar commitments, most notably the Dangote refinery — underscoring the cost of indecision.
Pipeline infrastructure remains underutilised, further constraining distribution even when production rises.
“The best time to reform was 30 years ago,” Rewane noted. “The second-best time is now.”
Rewane warned that every technological revolution increases aggregate output but can widen inequality. Rising Gini coefficients often correlate with insecurity.
“Productivity without equity leads to insecurity,” he cautioned.
The African Energy Bank, therefore, must finance more than upstream oil and gas projects. It must invest in transmission networks, grid stability, distribution systems and inclusive access — ensuring that energy expansion translates into industrial jobs, manufacturing growth and improved living standards.
Globally, oil accounts for roughly 30 percent of the energy mix, coal 26 percent, natural gas 24 percent, renewables 15 percent and nuclear 5 percent. Renewable costs are falling sharply, aided by scale and innovation, particularly from China. Yet grid stability, storage and transmission remain unresolved across much of Africa.
There is also a sequencing risk. If public grids fail to modernise while households and firms migrate permanently to off-grid solar systems, large-scale central infrastructure investments could become stranded assets.
Pakistan’s recent grid crisis — which triggered mass migration to private solar — offers a cautionary lesson.
Ultimately, the African Energy Bank represents more than a financing vehicle. It is a test of Africa’s institutional maturity and strategic coherence.
Artificial intelligence, industrialisation, data centres, modern healthcare and digital economies all depend on reliable electricity. Without power, Africa risks marginalisation in the next technological revolution.
With it, the continent could unlock exponential growth. “The revolution cannot be reversed. The question is whether Africa will power it — or be left behind by it”, Rewane stated.
Chairman, Board of Trustees, Engr. Charles Osezua said the Aret Adams foundation was founded on the ideals of the late Chief Godwin Aret Adams. He said the major objectives include education and empowerment of Nigerians in the urban and rural centers.
The principal objectives of the Foundation Osezua said is the setting up and endowment of professional chairs in the field of resource management, oil and gas and other allied areas, in the institutions of higher learning in Nigeria.
