Africa Energies Summit Digest
Widely acknowledged by those who attended, exhibited and spoke to be better than ever before, the 6th Africa Energies Summit comprised three days of debate, knowledge sharing and a huge amount of meaningful networking.
We brought together governments, IOCs, ministries, regulators, independents, NOCs, supply chain organisations and professional services, who all made their way to central London to the Africa Energies Summit, to focus on the development of Africa’s energy industry - from Cape to Cairo.
“Maggy Shino, winner of the African Legend Award exemplifies the outstanding leadership that means Namibia is going places.”
From frontier exploration and ongoing production through to carbon neutral operations and the development of the renewable energy sector, no stone in the African energy industry was left unturned.
There’s no way we can encapsulate all that was said in this one article, so we’ve pulled out some key themes here, which we hope will encourage you not only to view the Summit sessions on-demand, but also to start your plans to attend Africa Energies Summit 2024.
The Narrative is Changing
Our opening keynote, Keith Hill of Africa Energy Corp., was described by Frontier Energy Network CEO Gayle Meikle as “an illustrious explorer”. True to this description, Mr Hill’s session set the tone for the entire Summit, as he introduced the theme of “Realising Africa’s True Oil and Energy Potential” and made it clear that this was a conference which should be filled with optimism for Africa’s energy future.
His key message to the audience was one of realism; recognising that the energy transition is gathering pace, but that it must be “just” and “orderly”. “The narrative is changing”, he said, “it’s taken us over 100 years to build system A (the current energy system), and system B is (just a few) percent along the way – we can’t just throw out system A until B is established.”
“Africa Energies Summit is almost a reality check on the state of the industry. There is so much accurate perception of where African oil and gas and renewables are going. It’s great to hear about this from the African governments and multi-national corporations.”
Bearing in mind the commitment made by several African countries to the Paris Climate Agreement, the Africa Energies Summit agenda was designed to address the mix of power sources required to solve Africa’s energy’s challenge, as well as the role it plays in the energy security question.
Gas and renewable power projects took the spotlight across a number of sessions, and their place in the development of the continent’s energy mix were also a particular feature of “Charting Africa’s Energy Future”- a c-suite roundtable sponsored by GaffneyCline.
During this session, some particular challenges posed, questions raised and some significant phraseology coined. To find out more, a whitepaper based on the discussion will be available to download from africaenergies.com
A Platform for Governments
Africa is a continent which produces just 4% of global energy, and where 600 million of its population is currently without access to electricity. The goal of universal access to energy requires investment of $25 billion USD investment per annum – just 1% of current global energy investment – or the build of just one LNG terminal.
“Strategies for Attracting Energy Operators and Investment into Africa”, saw governmental representatives from Malawi, DRC, Namibia, Uganda and Ghana discuss strategies for attracting private investment. The attendance of 15 African governments at such a close-knit conference is one of the Africa Energies Summit’s defining features, and this topic was further developed by a number of National Showcases throughout the Summit. The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Namibia, Uganda, Somalia, Malawi and Senegal promoted the opportunities available in their own countries, discussed the highlights of fiscal terms, clarified their differentials and introduced key members of their teams. The Republic of Angola took this opportunity to officially announce the launch of its 2023 bid round to delegates.
“Africa Energies Summit is getting bigger and better every year; we’re here to support our government clients. We’re meeting the right people, the right companies, and the conversations this week have been very productive and worthwhile. We’ll be back in 2024.”
A Unique Environment
When we spoke to some of the 300+ delegates and 30+ exhibitors to find out what makes the Africa Energies Summit unique, the message came out loud and clear that the environment we create brings something special to the table. That comes from bringing a relatively compact group of C-suite industry professionals and government organisations together to create a confidential atmosphere which is conducive to constructive conversations on both a formal and informal level. By creating a forum for the former during the day, and opportunities for the latter each evening via the Summit Gala Dinner and exclusive Members’ evening, new relationships were built and existing ones consolidated.
“The people we came to speak to, we’ve spoken to! We admire what Angola has done and I particularly enjoyed their panel discussions; the lessons learned, and knowledge and experience shared has been very helpful.”
An Opportunity to Celebrate
Fittingly, the Africa Energies Summit closed with a celebration of outstanding individual and corporate contribution to Africa’s energy industry. The 27th Big Five Board Awards once again reflected the positivity surrounding the Africa energy industries and an unshakeable commitment to the development of Africa, which runs through the very core of the Africa Energies Summit and all those who support it.
Join us in 2024 to connect, collaborate and get deals done.
