Oluchi Chibuzor
The Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber (AEC), NJ Ayuk, has known as on African governments to speed up oil and gasoline exploration, broaden power infrastructure and mobilise financing for home initiatives, arguing that the continent should prioritise power safety and financial improvement to deal with widespread power poverty.
Ayuk, who spoke on the African Energy Week (AEW) held not too long ago, urged governments to undertake an “all-of-the-above” power technique that accommodates oil, gasoline, renewable power and different sources to meet the continent’s rising power wants.
He argued that Africa ought to resist exterior stress to depart its hydrocarbon sources undeveloped whereas tens of millions of individuals lack dependable electrical energy and entry to fashionable power providers.
“Energy poverty is not a climate strategy, and deprivation is not development,” he mentioned, stressing that the continent wanted to pursue power insurance policies that mirrored its improvement priorities and financial realities.
Ayuk mentioned Africa was approaching a important second within the world power market, with geopolitical tensions and disruptions to worldwide provide chains highlighting the significance of dependable power provides.
He maintained that power safety relied on infrastructure, logistics, funding and efficient execution, slightly than coverage declarations alone.
According to him, Africa should urgently develop electrical energy grids, pipelines, factories and different infrastructure wanted to assist industrialisation, enhance residing requirements and create jobs.
Ayuk mentioned the continent’s hydrocarbon manufacturing was projected to attain 11 million barrels of oil equal per day in 2026 and improve to 12.5 million barrels by 2030.
He recognized Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Libya and Egypt as main contributors to Africa’s oil and gasoline manufacturing, whereas urging different nations to enhance their regulatory frameworks and funding situations to unlock further sources.
On Nigeria, Ayuk mentioned reforms to deepwater fiscal and contractual phrases had been vital to attracting funding and reaching the nation’s manufacturing ambitions.
He additionally cited Angola’s use of fiscal incentives to revitalise mature oilfields, arguing that established petroleum-producing nations wanted to preserve funding in present property whereas creating new reserves.
Ayuk challenged South Africa to deal with regulatory and legislative obstacles affecting the event of its petroleum sources, significantly within the Orange Basin.
He argued that discoveries in neighbouring Namibia had strengthened the case for additional exploration and improvement planning within the wider offshore area.
The AEC chairman urged South African authorities to present larger regulatory readability, take away pointless boundaries and speed up choices required to appeal to funding into potential petroleum areas.
He additionally highlighted rising exploration alternatives in frontier basins, together with Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia, the place new agreements with worldwide oil firms may assist revive curiosity in underexplored petroleum provinces.
Ayuk known as for a balanced strategy that might encourage funding in each frontier and mature basins, noting that near-field exploration, brownfield optimisation and improved contractual phrases had been obligatory to offset pure manufacturing declines.
He argued that African nations couldn’t obtain sustainable progress in oil and gasoline manufacturing with out constant exploration and funding.
“Exploration is the absolute key to our survival,” he mentioned, including that creating the continent’s sources remained vital to efforts to eradicate power poverty.
The AEC chairman additionally highlighted the deliberate Africa Energy Bank as a possible supply of financing for oil, gasoline and different power initiatives throughout the continent.
He expressed appreciation to the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for his or her roles in advancing the initiative, describing the proposed establishment as an vital step in direction of strengthening Africa’s capability to finance its power improvement.
Ayuk argued that African power initiatives confronted difficulties securing worldwide financing amid altering funding insurance policies and restrictions affecting fossil gas developments.
He criticised what he described as inconsistent approaches to gasoline financing, arguing that pure gasoline continued to play an vital position in supporting industrial exercise and power safety in developed economies whereas related initiatives in Africa confronted mounting funding constraints.
He urged African monetary establishments and business banks to improve assist for viable power initiatives, saying the continent wanted stronger home financing mechanisms to scale back its dependence on exterior capital.
According to him, predictable laws, bankable contracts and entry to long-term financing could be important to unlocking funding and stopping commercially viable sources from remaining undeveloped.
Ayuk cited the Dangote Petroleum Refinery for instance of how large-scale funding in home power infrastructure may strengthen provide safety and scale back dependence on imported petroleum merchandise.
He mentioned the refinery had helped deal with petroleum-product provide constraints in Africa and had additionally created alternatives for exports to worldwide markets, together with Europe.
The AEC chairman argued that the mission demonstrated the significance of creating home refining capability and processing pure sources domestically slightly than relying predominantly on imported completed merchandise.
He urged African nations to undertake the same strategy to worth addition throughout their power industries, saying native processing may assist industrialisation, enhance provide resilience and create employment.
Ayuk additionally known as for larger cooperation between African nations and different members of the Global South, particularly expressing assist for Venezuela’s efforts to develop its petroleum sources regardless of exterior financial restrictions.
He urged African buyers to discover alternatives in Venezuela, arguing that creating nations may benefit from stronger power partnerships and funding cooperation.
He additionally inspired African companies and buyers to have interaction with Grenada, which he mentioned was looking for strategic partnerships to develop its offshore power potential.
Beyond power improvement, Ayuk condemned xenophobia and hostility in direction of overseas nationals, significantly in South Africa, describing such incidents as inconsistent with the spirit of African integration and financial cooperation.
He endorsed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s opposition to xenophobia and Afrophobia, stressing that the power trade relied on collaboration amongst staff, buyers, engineers and companies from completely different nations.
Ayuk mentioned pipelines, energy grids and different power infrastructure linked economies throughout borders, making regional cooperation important to the continent’s improvement.
He additionally warned African governments towards useful resource nationalism that would discourage funding by unpredictable regulatory adjustments, retroactive compliance necessities and extreme state fairness calls for.
While acknowledging the significance of native content material and making certain that host nations profit from their pure sources, he mentioned such insurance policies wanted to be carried out in ways in which didn’t undermine investor confidence or make initiatives commercially unviable.
“Isolation is economic suicide,” he mentioned, arguing that African nations wanted worldwide partnerships, predictable fiscal regimes and secure contractual preparations to appeal to the capital required to develop their sources.
Ayuk urged governments to scale back bureaucratic delays, honour contractual commitments and speed up approvals for viable power initiatives.
He mentioned public officers needs to be judged by the outcomes they delivered and the investments they enabled, slightly than by the variety of initiatives delayed by administrative obstacles.
The AEC chairman maintained that Africa had the pure sources, workforce and funding alternatives required to broaden its power sector, however pressured that governments should create the situations for these benefits to translate into financial progress.
He known as for a improvement technique that mixes power safety, infrastructure funding, entry to capital and regional cooperation, arguing that Africa ought to give you the chance to decide how finest to utilise its sources to meet its financial and social wants.
