CAPE TOWN, South Africa, September 7, 2026/APO Group/ –The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) (www.AWIEForum.org) is pleased to announce the finalists for its 2026 AWIEF Awards.

 




  

Launched in 2017, the prestigious annual AWIEF Awards is an initiative to recognise, honour, and celebrate women entrepreneurs and business owners in Africa across various industry sectors for their achievements and contribution to the continent’s inclusive economic growth and social development.

Following a highly competitive nominations process, this year’s finalists represent a diverse range of sectors and African markets, reflecting the breadth of talent, innovation and impact emerging across the continent.

The 2026 Awards categories have been refined to reflect the evolving entrepreneurial and innovation landscape in Africa, with categories recognising emerging leaders, technology pioneers, agricultural innovators, creative visionaries, and women driving measurable impact.

This year also sees the introduction of the Male Ally Award, to recognise a male leader, founder, executive, policymaker or senior decision-maker whose leadership and actions have contributed meaningfully to advancing women’s economic empowerment and creating sustained, systemic change for women in Africa.

The finalists for the 2026 AWIEF Awards are (listed in alphabetical order):

WOMAN TO WATCH AWARD

Omotoke Ajidagba – Co-founder & COO, 10mg Health, Nigeria

Faith Nafula – Founder & CEO, Solar Spark Energy, Kenya

Rowena Turinawe – Founding CEO, Ruka Pay, Uganda

AGRI AWARD

Violet Awo Amoabeng – Founder & CEO, Skin Gourmet, Ghana

Stella Doreen Namulondo – Co-founder & COO, Essymart Africa Business Link, Uganda

Joyce Rugano – CEO, Ecorich Solutions, Kenya

IMPACT FOR GOOD AWARD

Ola Brown – General Partner, HealthCap Africa, Nigeria

Nada Ghammem – Co-Founder & CEO, Bionic Soul, Tunisia

Echo Nomsa VanderWal – Executive Director, The Luke Commission, Eswatini

CREATIVE VISIONARY AWARD

Rasha Aita – Managing Director, SMACRS LLC, Egypt

Renuka Methil – Managing Editor, Forbes Africa, South Africa

Hadeer Shalaby – Co-Founder & CEO, Freeziana, Egypt

TECH PIONEER AWARD

Varuna Devi Bangaleea – Group CEO, nVisionIT, Mauritius

Ndeye Fatou Mboup – CEO, The Smart Granary, Senegal

Quinter Ochieng – Founder & CEO, Chargebyte Africa, Kenya

MALE ALLY AWARD

The 2026 recipient for this award category will be announced at the AWIEF Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

The Lifetime Achievement Award honours a visionary female leader whose decades of leadership, entrepreneurship or public service have contributed significantly to Africa’s economic, social or institutional development and helped pave the way for future generations of women leaders.

The 2026 recipient for this award category will be announced at the AWIEF Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner.

Winners to Be Announced at AWIEF 2026 Conference

The 2026 AWIEF Awards winners will be revealed at the prestigious awards ceremony and gala dinner on 11 November 2026, taking place as the grand finale of the AWIEF 2026 Conference.

The conference will take place from 10 to 11 November 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa, bringing together women entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, policymakers, development partners, and other entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem stakeholders from across Africa and beyond.

The Awards Gala will be an opportunity to celebrate this year’s finalists and winners while recognising the women and allies helping to shape a more inclusive and prosperous economic future for Africa.

Tickets for the AWIEF 2026 Conference and Awards are available online at: https://apo-opa.co/3TeYyhW

 

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, September 3, 2026/APO Group/ –Invictus Energy will participate in African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 as a Bronze Partner, bringing Zimbabwe’s Cabora Bassa Basin development into the continent’s premier energy investment forum. The partnership comes as Invictus shifts from frontier exploration toward commercial development following major discoveries, regulatory progress and a landmark production sharing agreement.

 




  

Invictus holds an 80% interest across 360,000 hectares in the Cabora Bassa Basin, where its Mukuyu discovery has established a significant gas-condensate resource. The company estimates the project contains 4.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas and 264 million barrels of condensate, positioning Cabora Bassa as a potential new source of domestic gas and power for Zimbabwe.

The company signed a petroleum production sharing agreement with the government of Zimbabwe in May this year, establishing the fiscal and commercial framework for future development. The agreement gives the state a 20% interest and incorporates the Mutapa Investment Fund, while providing a framework under which Zimbabwe can take its share through profits or physical gas volumes.

Invictus is now preparing for its next major exploration catalyst, with the Musuma-1 well scheduled to spud in November. The well will target an independent prospect on the eastern basin margin containing an unrisked gross mean prospective resource of 1.2 tcf of gas and 73 million barrels of condensate, potentially expanding the basin’s commercial footprint.

The company has also secured Exalo Drilling Rig 202 through a deed of variation with Exalo Drilling, while wellpad construction, civil works and rig preparations advance ahead of mobilization. Invictus also completed an approximately $7-million capital raising in July, strengthening its funding position for the upcoming drilling program and wider appraisal activity.

Alongside exploration, Invictus is developing an early gas-to-power commercialization pathway centered on Mukuyu. A pilot project with Dallaglio and Himoinsa is designed to generate an initial 12 MW for the Eureka Gold Mine, with potential expansion to 50 MW as gas production develops and additional industrial demand emerges.

The company is also pursuing broader gas monetization through an MoU with Mbuyu Energy, potentially supplying gas-to-power generation facilities connected to the Southern African Power Pool. Longer-term plans include regional pipeline infrastructure and modular LNG production, creating multiple routes for Cabora Bassa gas to reach Zimbabwean and regional energy markets.

“Invictus Energy represents the type of African-led resource development that AEW is designed to showcase, where exploration success is being matched by commercial planning, government alignment and investment,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber. “Its participation brings Zimbabwe’s emerging gas opportunity into direct conversation with investors, developers and energy companies from across the continent and beyond.”

Invictus’ Bronze Partnership gives AEW 2026 delegates direct engagement with an emerging African upstream developer advancing one of the continent’s most significant recent onshore gas discoveries. Its participation comes as Zimbabwe seeks to convert new hydrocarbon resources into domestic power generation, industrial growth and energy security, while attracting investment into an underexplored frontier basin.

LUANDA, Angola, September 3, 2026/APO Group/ –bp Supply, Trading & Shipping – the distribution business of energy major bp – has joined the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2026 Conference and Exhibition as a Gold Sponsor, bringing the expertise of one of the world’s leading energy marketing, operations and trading businesses to discussions around Angola’s position in global oil and gas markets.

 




  

Connecting producers and suppliers with customers and markets worldwide, bp Supply, Trading & Shipping sits at the intersection of energy production, transportation and consumption. The company’s participation at AOG 2026 comes as Angola seeks to strengthen its position as a competitive oil and gas producer while maximizing the value generated from its resources.

As one of Africa’s largest oil and gas producers, Angola has set clear objectives to sustain production above one million barrels per day (bpd) while increasing natural gas development and exports. Monthly crude production measured approximately 31 million barrels in June 2026 – equivalent to 1.039 million bpd – while gas production averaged 2,663 million cubic feet per day. During the same period, Angola’s total crude liftings were 34.16 million barrels, of which 33 million barrels were exported and 1.07 million barrels made available for the Luanda refinery.

Looking ahead, Angola strives to bolster output through enhanced recovery and infill drilling at mature assets alongside forays into frontier exploration basins. Recent developments include TotalEnergies extending the life of the prolific Block 32, enabling the continuous development of the assets; Etu Energias advancing appraisal drilling at Block 2/05; Sonangol progressing a redevelopment program at Blocks 3/05 and 3/05A; and Afentra targeting 2026/2027 FID on its Block 3/24 discoveries.

As crude production stabilizes and gas output rises, Angola is gradually positioning itself to play an increasingly central role in global supply chains. As a strategic player in the global market, bp Supply, Trading & Shipping is well-positioned to support this next phase of growth. The business integrates bp’s oil, gas and lower-carbon value chains while providing capabilities spanning commodity trading, supply, logistics, pricing and risk management.

AOG 2026 will examine this entire value chain. The conference brings together policymakers, operators, financiers, service companies and other industry stakeholders to discuss investment opportunities spanning exploration and production, gas, infrastructure, logistics and downstream development.

For bp Supply, Trading & Shipping, the event provides a platform to engage stakeholders around the commercial systems underpinning international energy trade. As Gold Sponsor, the company is expected to contribute a global market perspective to conference discussions, reinforcing the importance of trading, shipping and integrated supply chains to Angola’s continued development as a major African energy producer.