The Africa Oil & Power (AOP) has concluded arrangements to host Secretary Generals of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and the International Energy Forum at the 3rd Annual flagship conference.
The conference, scheduled to hold from September 5 to 7, 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa, will host top-level discussions as the energy coalitions across the globe will pivot to Africa amid a wealth of opportunities in the continent’s oil and energy sector.
According to a statement issued by the Chief Executive Officer of AZ Media Agency, Ms. Aziza Albou Traore, the AOP flagship conference will honour the Secretary General of OPEC, Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, as “Africa Oil Man of the Year”.
“It will also unite Barkindo with the Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Yury P. Sentyurin; Secretary General of the IEF, Dr. Sun Xiansheng; and the Secretary General of the APPO, Mahaman Laouan Gaya, on an elite panel discussion about Energy Coalitions – the theme of the conference,” she stated.
According to her, “the GECF and OPEC, in particular, have drawn new energy from Africa, with Equatorial Guinea set to host the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Malabo in 2019 and several new African countries joining OPEC in the last two years,” Albou added.
Seventeen of Africa’s top ministers that will participate in on-stage panel discussions have been confirmed to attend the conference. “Two Ministers’ Insights panels will set the tone for panels on upstream development, the status of mega-projects in Africa, the gas economy, renewables in the energy mix, trading and finance,” Albou said.
The ministers that are billed to attend the conference include: Jeff Radebe, Minister of Energy of South Africa; Gabriel M. Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea; Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Minister of Petroleum of South Sudan; Pascal Houangni Ambourouet, Minister of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons of Gabon; Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Somalia; Ernest Gbwaboubou, Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development of Cameroon; Foumakoye Gado, Minister of Petroleum, Niger; and Jean Marc Thystère Tchicaya, Minister of Hydrocarbons, Republic of the Congo.
Others are Charles Keter, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum of Kenya; Mansour Elimane Kane, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Senegal; Dona Jean-Claude Houssou, Minister of Energy, Water and Mines, Benin; Marc Dederiwe Abli-Bidamon, Minister of Mines and Energy, Togo; Dr. Dhieu Mathok Diing Wol, Minister of Energy and Dams, South Sudan; Serge Blaise Zoniaba, Minister of Energy, Republic of the Congo; and Fafa Sanyang, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, The Gambia.
Albou added that Africa’s premier platform for networking and deal-making in the energy sector would feature more than 70 of Africa’s leading decision makers as speakers.
These include Torbjörn Törnqvist, CEO, Gunvor Group; Dr. Benedict Okey Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank; Dr. Oliver Quinn, Director, Africa and Global New Ventures of Ophir Energy; Andre Wepener, Head of the Power & Infrastructure Finance team at Investec Bank; and Robin Sutherland, General Manager New Ventures Africa of Tullow Oil.
Others are Tope Shonubi, Co‐founder and Director of Sahara Group; Steve Jenkins, Chairman of Savannah Petroleum; and Russell Hardy, Group CEO of Vitol.
