• Farid Ghazali took office as APPO secretary general in December 2025

• The organization has no binding power over national energy policies

• Diverging national strategies constrain regional coordination

Elected in early November 2025 during the 48th ministerial council session of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), Farid Ghazali formally assumed office as secretary general on December 17 at a handover ceremony held in Brazzaville.

Beyond the leadership change at the head of APPO’s secretariat, Ghazali’s appointment has revived questions over the organization’s actual role in coordinating energy policy among African oil-producing states, whose strategies remain largely driven by national priorities.

As an intergovernmental body, APPO brings together producing countries with diverse energy profiles and economic agendas. Common orientations are set at the level of the ministerial council, which includes ministers in charge of hydrocarbons from member states, while the secretariat general is responsible for implementing these decisions.

However, the organization has no binding authority over national energy policies. This institutional setup limits APPO to a role focused on coordination and dialogue among producing states, based on the exchange of positions, without formal mechanisms to align or enforce collective energy strategies. In practice, this constraint clashes with energy decisions taken strictly within national frameworks.

In Nigeria, for example, oil sector reforms implemented in 2024 and 2025 included the launch of a new licensing round and measures aimed at attracting offshore investment. Authorities reported more than $5.5 billion in final investment decisions in hydrocarbons in 2024.

A similar national approach is evident in Angola, where oil production continues to be managed at the country level. Output averaged more than 1.1 million barrels per day over the first three quarters of 2024, according to the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG). In Senegal, the start of production at the offshore Sangomar field in June 2024 marked the country’s effective entry into oil production, following its own development timeline.

These trajectories, shaped by distinct economic and institutional contexts, illustrate how producing states define their resource development strategies independently. This reality, in turn, limits the scope of any formalized energy coordination within an institution such as APPO.

Ghazali’s arrival also comes as African oil producers face a series of structural challenges, including project financing constraints, the need to sustain production capacity, and the gradual transition of energy systems.

In this environment, APPO now operates alongside new continental initiatives, including the African Energy Bank, which was created to support financing for oil and gas projects across the continent. How effectively the organization can position its coordination role alongside these emerging instruments will be one of the key institutional challenges facing the new secretariat general.

Abdel-Latif Boureima