Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has been appointed to the Executive Board of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO). This significant appointment designates Mr. Ogbe as Nigeria’s representative on the board of the 18-member continental organization, which is headquartered in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. The selection was made by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) and Chairman of the NCDMB Governing Council.

The appointment was formally communicated through a congratulatory letter from Mrs. Philomena Ikoko, APPO's Director of Support Services, acting on behalf of Secretary General Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim. In the letter, Mrs. Ikoko acknowledged the Minister's confidence in Mr. Ogbe and expressed optimism about his potential contributions to Africa's oil and gas sector. She noted that his appointment comes at a critical and challenging juncture for the industry on the continent, emphasizing it as a "major call to duty for Nigeria and the continent," and assured him of the APPO secretariat's full support.

The NCDMB has historically played a pivotal role in bolstering APPO's operations and spearheading local content development across Africa. This includes providing crucial institutional support and mentorship to various oil-producing nations as they formulate their local content policies. A key initiative led by NCDMB was the African Local Content Roundtable (ALCR), with its inaugural session hosted in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, in June 2021. This event saw participation from high-level APPO officials and other prominent figures in the oil industry, and NCDMB has since collaborated with APPO on subsequent editions, including one in Abuja in 2023.

It was during the inaugural ALCR that NCDMB officials first proposed the concept of the Africa Energy Bank (AEB). This institution is envisioned as a strategic tool to accelerate growth within the African oil and gas industry and to deepen local content. The AEB, which APPO is currently establishing in Abuja, aims to pool financial resources to fund large-scale oil and gas projects throughout the continent. A primary objective is to mitigate the funding challenges that arise from Africa's heavy reliance on Western financiers.

According to APPO's Secretary General, the AEB is designed to finance projects across various African economies, addressing critical financing gaps. The funding strategy involves each APPO member country contributing $83 million, with an overall capitalization target of $5 billion for the bank's establishment. Notably, Nigeria, Angola, and Ghana have already remitted their share capital, collectively accounting for 44 percent of the minimum capital required from the continent's oil-producing nations. Mr. Ogbe recently confirmed at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) that NCDMB was among the key institutions contributing to the AEB's formation.

Mr. Ogbe further announced that the Africa Energy Bank is slated to commence operations before the end of the second quarter of 2025. He expressed optimism that its launch will significantly enhance funding availability for local oil and gas projects and companies. Adding to this, Minister Lokpobiri revealed at the Offshore Technology Conference that Afrexim Bank has already mobilized $19 billion for the AEB's launch. This sum includes $14 billion representing Afrexim Bank's financial exposure to African oil and gas projects, with an additional $5 billion designated as take-off capital for the AEB.