Biography
Zakaria Dosso is Managing Director of the Africa Energy Investment Corporation (AEICORP), the financial and investment arm of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO). AEICORP is a development finance institution established by APPO member countries on 26 January 2019, following the reform of the APPO Fund, with authorised capital of US$1 billion. Headquartered in Cotonou, Benin, it mobilises capital for oil and gas, power, alternative energy and mining projects across Africa.
An accountant and engineer by profession, Dosso was Deputy Finance and Accounting Manager at the Ivorian oil and gas company GESTOCI before serving as Executive Director of the APPO Fund from August 2015 to January 2019. He was then selected to lead AEICORP. He has argued that African countries should pool their resources to develop their energy sectors, with funding from governments, financial institutions, sovereign funds and pension funds.
Dosso leads the mobilisation of contributions from APPO member countries for the capitalisation of the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) and played a key role in the negotiations with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) that led to its establishment. In February 2026, he represented AEICORP in Abuja when APPO and Afreximbank received the keys to the bank’s headquarters from the Government of Nigeria. The AEB has a projected initial capital base of US$5 billion.
His focus areas include mobilising African capital, structuring sustainable financing for energy projects and supporting investment frameworks that strengthen domestic capacity and local participation across the energy value chain. In 2025, AEICORP signed a memorandum of understanding with GESPETROGAZ-CI in Abidjan to provide technical and financial support to local enterprises in the hydrocarbon sector.
Career Highlights
- Managing Director of AEICORP, APPO’s financial and investment arm, established in 2019 with US$1 billion in authorised capital
- Leads the mobilisation of APPO member contributions to capitalise the Africa Energy Bank
- Played a key role in the negotiations with Afreximbank that led to the establishment of the Africa Energy Bank
- Executive Director of the APPO Fund from August 2015 to January 2019
- Former Deputy Finance and Accounting Manager at GESTOCI in Côte d’Ivoire
On the AETC Stage
“Our countries taken individually are very, very weak. But working together, implementing design first and implementing projects together will make our countries stronger. If a country puts the development priority of its population at the front and takes the lead, the private sector will follow.”
