• A strategically significant transaction for Italy’s industrial and energy sectors, restoring the country’s most important refining complex to Italian ownership.
• Subject to clearance under Golden Power and antitrust procedures, the acquisition will see ISAB evolve from a traditional refinery into an Energy Company, underpinning competitiveness, security of supply and the development of new energy value chains.
• With ISAB, the Ludoil Group takes a decisive step up in scale and industrial scope: spanning power generation, crude oil processing and advanced biofuels, the enlarged group will become Italy’s leading privately held energy operator, with expected consolidated revenues exceeding €10 billion per year.

Ludoil Capital S.r.l. (www.Ludoil.it), a wholly-owned subsidiary of holding company Ludoil Energy S.p.A. (“Ludoil” or the “Group”), has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement (“SPA”) with GOI Energy S.r.l. to acquire GOI Energy’s equity stake in ISAB S.r.l. (“ISAB”), owner of the Priolo Gargallo refinery and its associated industrial, logistics and energy infrastructure. The transaction is structured in two phases, the first covering a 51% interest and subject, among other conditions, to clearance from the Italian Government under the special powers regime applicable to assets of national strategic importance (Decree-Law 21/2012, the so-called Golden Power), and to the requisite antitrust and regulatory approvals.

Located in south-eastern Sicily, in the Province of Syracuse and straddling the municipalities of Priolo Gargallo, Augusta, and Melilli, the facility is Italy’s largest refining complex, with an authorised capacity of 20 million tonnes per year and a balanced capacity of 15 million tonnes per year, and represents a strategic infrastructure for national energy security, and represents critical national infrastructure for energy security. Through this transaction, an asset of vital national importance returns to Italian ownership.

The acquisition marks the beginning of a new chapter for ISAB, which will be transformed into an Energy Company with an integrated portfolio that spans crude oil processing through to advanced biofuels, positioning the business as a strategic hub for energy flows between Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. Operations will follow a shared-value model, ensuring that ISAB strengthens its role in safeguarding energy supplies and continues to deliver prosperity to the local community and the country at large.

Over the medium term, industrial strategy will centre on advanced bio-processing. The plan envisages the progressive build-out of new value chains for the production of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), BioOil, second-generation bioethanol and BioETBE – a comprehensive set of renewable energy carriers aligned with European decarbonisation policy.

Investments will be structured to comply with the European RED III Directive, reflecting the Group’s commitment to internationally recognised sustainability standards. Alongside the bio activities, the site already hosts a 540 MW power and cogeneration plant and will see the addition of further renewable generation assets totalling 20 MW. These investments form part of a broader transformation of the Priolo industrial district, which is already attracting significant capital flows into biorefining and helping to establish the Syracuse area as a leading hub for the energy transition in the Mediterranean.

On employment, the existing workforce will be retained in full. ISAB represents a wealth of engineering expertise built over decades in Sicily – the historic heart of Italian refining and petrochemicals. It is a nationally recognised centre of excellence which Ludoil intends to develop further and take onto the international stage. The growth plan and new facilities under development are also expected to create further employment opportunities locally, including through partnerships with academic and research institutions.

The complementarity between Ludoil’s commercial and infrastructure capabilities and ISAB’s industrial expertise will enable full vertical integration across the value chain — from feedstock sourcing through downstream operations to distribution. The Group’s portfolio comprises coastal storage terminals, logistics infrastructure, a fuel retail network and a diversified mix of renewable generation assets, from biomethane to solar PV and wind.

The transaction establishes Ludoil as Italy’s leading privately held Multi-Energy Company, with expected consolidated revenues exceeding €10 billion per year, ranking the Group among Italy’s largest companies by revenue and placing it at the forefront of the transformation of the national energy system.

The companies gathering in Cape Town are deploying capital into transmission infrastructure, building mining corridors that will define trade routes for decades, financing baseload capacity that can power heavy industry, and developing renewable projects that will anchor Africa’s manufacturing future. Forum Sponsor Sun Africa leads a group of sponsors whose projects and investments are already shaping how the continent builds its industrial base.

“I am looking forward to joining the conversation in Cape Town this June. What excites me about this year’s Summit is the calibre of capital and commitment in the room — companies that are financing baseload capacity for heavy industry, building mining corridors that will define trade routes for decades, and deploying renewable projects that will anchor Africa’s manufacturing future. That is the kind of long-term, structural thinking that Sun Africa has always believed this continent deserves, and it is exactly the conversation we need to be having.” Sun Africa, CEO, Adam Cortese.

ACWA Power, Infinity Power and AMEA Power are building gigawatt-scale renewable capacity across the continent. Globeleq and TotalEnergies are financing and operating projects that demonstrate how private capital can deliver industrial-grade infrastructure. British International Investment and IFC are structuring deals that blend concessional and commercial finance to unlock sovereign wealth fund participation. Nedbank CIB is providing the sustainable finance structures that allow projects to reach financial close.

“As Africa moves from aspiration to execution, this year’s agenda focuses on the hardware of industrialisation – the steel, concrete and transmission lines that will define Africa’s industrial future,” said Simon Gosling, Managing Director of EnergyNet.

The companies driving this shift face common challenges: structuring bankable projects where perceived risk exceeds actual performance, moving critical minerals from extraction to processing, building transmission corridors that serve both mines and cities, and deploying patient capital into long-term infrastructure.

Cape Town provides the right setting. South Africa is navigating private transmission investment, energy trading, mining-driven renewable deployment, and tensions between industrial growth and climate commitments – challenges the rest of the continent will face. The city’s reforms offer a live case study.

The agenda reflects where these companies are focusing their resources. Critical minerals receive a two-day dedicated stream exploring downstream processing, transport corridors and value capture from reserves representing over 30% of global supply. Sessions examine the Lobito Corridor, Liberty Corridor and Simandou infrastructure as models for large-scale project finance.

Transmission and baseload themes address grid expansion, private investment structures and 24/7 availability for data centres and manufacturing. Energy trading sessions explore how sponsors are transforming project finance through creditworthy off-take, whole technology discussions will cover AI for revenue protection, data centre supply chains and CBAM compliance.

More broadly, the forum structure supports deal-making. The speaker programme includes closed-door roundtables bringing together DFIs, sovereign wealth funds, Middle East ministers, utilities, regulators and the private sector for frank discussions on capital deployment.

This will bring together senior public and private sector leadership, with notable speakers including H.E. Honourable Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Minister of Electricity & Energy, South Africa; H.E. Honourable Samantha Graham-Marè, Deputy Minister of Electricity & Energy, South Africa; Dan Marokane, GCE, Eskom, South Africa; H.E. Honourable Jeremiah Kpan Koung, Vice President, Liberia; H.E. Honourable Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Minister of Electricity & Energy, South Africa; H.E. Honourable Lerato Mataboge, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy; Precious Edward, Head, IPP Office, South Africa; Obaïd Amrane, CEO, Ithmar Capital, Morocco, Chair, Africa Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF) & Chair, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF); Mike Teke, Group CEO, Seriti Resources; and Jonathan Hoffman, CEO, Globeleq.

Regional fireside chats, meanwhile, will spotlight opportunities across North, East, South and West Africa. Day One features ministerial sessions with participation from Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Energy and The Gambia’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Natural Resources.

Additional sponsors driving the programme include AKSA as Exhibitor Sponsor, with lead sponsor support from Synergy Consulting, ATIDI, Engie, European Investment Bank, Standard Bank, Red Rocket, USP&E Global and Sungrow.

On the final day, YES! (Youth Energy Summit) takes place as part of the aef stream under the theme ‘Empowering Today’s Entrepreneurs – Building Tomorrow’s Industrialists’. Here, impact leaders will present scalable initiatives creating entrepreneurship opportunities in Africa’s energy sector, while industry partners lead interactive workshops building practical skills for 600 young people in attendance.

As generative AI technologies continue to advance, image manipulation and the spread of fake images have emerged as significant societal challenges. News organisations are increasingly expected to clearly demonstrate the provenance of the images they publish to ensure their authenticity. Canon joined C2PA and the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI)⁴ in 2023 and has since been advancing the research and implementation of provenance management technologies based on international standards. Canon’s Authenticity Imaging System reliably embeds provenance information into images at the point of capture as the foundation for authenticity, thereby enabling verification of content history throughout the workflow, from initial intake through editing, distribution and publication.

The solution uses manifest information⁵ generated by C2PA-compatible cameras as its starting point, issuing public certificates and applying timestamps from trusted time-stamping authorities to help maintain verifiable provenance records over time. It provides an environment in which provenance information, including records added during editing and distribution processes, can be verified at the time of publication. This is designed to enhance transparency in how images are handled in news operations, accommodating both speed and authenticity in photojournalism.

Ahead of the official launch, Reuters, the global news organisation, collaborated with Canon on initial technical enablement and specific testing of C2PA cameras. Using the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II with the Image Authenticity feature enabled, Reuters found that authenticated provenance data could be generated reliably.

Canon will continue to support the assurance of image authenticity in news organisations through its Authenticity Imaging System while also exploring expansion into a wide range of fields where authenticity is critical, including government, healthcare, and research. In addition, Canon will work toward the broader adoption of international standards such as C2PA by collaborating with related organisations and partners and further advancing provenance management technologies.

For more information, please visit the Authenticity Imaging System website: https://apo-opa.co/42yWNNH