Hyve Group Plc, organizers of the Africa Oil Week’s 27^th edition, has released the first line-up of African ministers and government leaders who will be present at this edition. They include former African presidents (Nigeria and Malawi), Commissioner for the African Union Commission, Secretary-General for AfCFTA, and Ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Republic of Congo, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Djibouti.

“Governments are an integral part of Africa Oil Week and we are delighted to be able to provide the sector with much-needed direct access to these leaders. Discussions on site will take the form of 15+ National Energy Showcases, ministerial panel discussions, and pre-arranged 1-2-1 meetings that will help to drive investment and advance energy projects in and across Africa,” said Paul Sinclair, Vice President of Energy and Government Relations for Africa Oil Week.

Initially, the event was scheduled to be hosted in South Africa but due to health security measures in such a pandemic era, the organizers deemed it necessary to change the venue. “After careful evaluation of government guidelines and consultation with our customers, Africa Oil Week 2021, originally scheduled from 1-5 November in Cape Town, South Africa will be moving dates and location and will now take place in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) on 8-11 November 2021 in the Madinat Jumeirah,” the organizers informed.

Challenges of the Oil and Gas sector in Africa

According to the senior vice president of the African Energy Chamber, currently, the oil and gas market faces extremely tough challenges attributed to several factors: Decarbonisation and the shale gas revolution which initially created challenges for the African offshore oil and gas industry, the novel coronavirus’ adverse effect that saw a significant reduction in the demand for oil and gas, development finance institutions disengaging from all investments with a negative impact on climate change, competition typically from Mexico and the Middle East with investors taking a deeper look at projects before investing in them.

The above-mentioned disruptions have impacted the sector negatively. For instance, African countries, typically Nigeria and Angola’s metric consumer confidence has reduced notably. Also, Pre-pandemic planned capital expenditure from 2020 to 2021 was $90 billion but has since fallen to just $60 billion. This was revealed in the outlook of oil and gas in Africa, the African Energy Chamber’s annual report published early this year.

Solange Lum