With the dual pressure of developing oil and gas resources to drive resource monetization while meeting the requirements of the global energy transition, African governments are under pressure to reduce energy poverty while ensuring development meets today’s climate standards. As such, this year’s African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energy 2024 conference will feature a workshop that explores how fiscal changes and regulatory solutions can allow African countries to optimize oil and gas strategies while driving a just transition.

Led by Jay Park, Managing Partner at international energy law firm Park Energy Law and featuring Alexey Kovshin, Vice President at Van Meurs Energy, the session will examine Africa’s position on the global energy transition and how governments can leverage vast oil and gas resources to meet the energy requirements of their populations. Taking place during the event’s Pre-Event Workshops on November 4 in Cape Town, the session is determined to improve the landscape of the African energy sector and explore the continent’s full energy potential.

AEW: Invest in African Energy is the platform of choice for project operators, financiers, technology providers and government, and has emerged as the official place to sign deals in African energy. Visit www.AECWeek.com for more information about this exciting event.

Despite global calls for Africa to transition away from fossil fuels, the continent’s upstream sector is not short on opportunity, with ongoing oil and gas tenders being launched for onshore, deepwater, greenfield and brownfield acreage in Angola, Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and Liberia, among other markets. In April this year, global oil major Shell made its fifth discovery offshore Namibia after confirming the presence of oil deposits at the Enigma-1X well. Meanwhile, Khalda Petroleum – a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and independent Apache – recently announced a new oil discovery in the West Fayoum-1 area in Egypt’s Western Desert.

However, for African countries to better compete for global exploration capital, their respective licensing processes, frameworks and terms must encourage new investment. To attract investment, many African countries are revising their respective petroleum regulations. Nigeria’s recently implemented Petroleum Industry Act, for example, is poised to expand the domestic and regional energy sector, with a number of large-scale projects currently underway set to improve energy security and industrialization. Meanwhile, Angola continues to revamp policies and fiscal incentives for marginal and onshore fields to embark on direct negotiations with investors to exploit prospects and stimulate investments within the oil and gas industry. However, much more needs to be done to attract the requisite investment to make energy poverty history by 2030.

Meanwhile, with an abundance of renewable resources, robust policies and declining costs of technology in the sector poised to accelerate the deployment of clean energy projects, Africa boasts the unique potential to eradicate energy poverty on the back of its natural resources while also driving renewable energy strategies. Serving as a blueprint for how gas-rich countries in Africa can leverage their resources to stimulate development across various sector of the economy, Algeria has positioned its gas sector as a key driver of economic diversification, using revenue generated from LPG exports to advance industrialization and electrification. Furthermore, oil-and-gas-rich Mauritania aims to produce 12.5 million tons of green hydrogen annually by 2035, focusing on large-scale projects such as Danish developer GreenCo Energy’s 35 GW Megaton Moon, green hydrogen developer CWP’s 16-20 GW Aman or energy supermajor TotalEnergies and independent Chariot’s 10 GW Project Nour. These projects highlight the fundamental role integrated energy systems will play in Africa, enabling the continent to meet dual goals of boosting energy security while mitigating climate change impacts.

“With over 600 million people on the continent without access to energy, Africa will need to harness every resource available in order to spark significant job creation, economic diversification and growth. We need a dual approach to dealing with climate change while also ensuring that our people benefit from the resources beneath their feet,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

The AEW: Invest in African Energy 2024 workshop will unpack the hydrocarbon-energy transition nexus, drawing insight into how petroleum regimes can generate the investment required to maximize Africa’s energy resources. The workshop will identify key challenges while outlining the path forward regarding fiscal and regulatory solutions.