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APO Group partners with the Catholic Church in Africa to provide comprehensive Public Relations support

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Catholic Church

Partnership with APO Group will bring greater cohesion to the Church’s pastoral communications strategy, helping to deliver the core messages of the Holy Father and the Vatican (Holy See) to Africa’s 251 million Catholics

VATICAN CITY, Vatican, May 26, 2022/APO Group/ — 

APO Group (www.APO-opa.com), the leading Pan-African communications consultancy and press release distribution service, and the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) (www.SECAM.org), today announced a working partnership aimed at providing extensive Media and Public Relations support to the Catholic Church in Africa (Holy See) (www.Vatican.va).

By working with the SECAM, the institution that coordinates the Catholic Church hierarchy’s pastoral work in Africa, APO Group will bring greater cohesion to the Church’s communications strategy, helping to deliver core messages of the Holy Father and the Holy See to Africa’s 251 million Catholics who are spread far and wide across the African diaspora. It will also publicise and present news and information about the life of the Church in Africa to a global audience.

The project is being carried out in collaboration with the Vatican Dicastery for Communications in Rome and the Pan-African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS) to ensure the Church’s communications strategies and initiatives are disseminated across Africa and beyond. 

The partnership was formalized on Tuesday during a signing ceremony at the Vatican in Rome by His Eminence Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, Archbishop of Ouagadougou and President of SECAM, Most Reverend Emmanuel Badejo, Bishop of Oyo (Nigeria), President of CEPACS and member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communications, Monseigneur Janvier Marie Gustave Yameogo, official of the Vatican Dicastery for Communications, and Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder and Chairman of APO Group.

While Catholic populations are declining in many parts of the world, in Africa they are increasing fast.

The mission of SECAM is to preserve and foster communion, collaboration and joint action among the Catholic Episcopal Conferences of Africa and the Islands, ensuring that African Catholics are better connected to each other, to the Vatican and to the universal Church. 

The Pan-African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS) was established in 1971 in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications to support the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) as an episcopal committee to coordinate pastoral communications in the mission of the Church in Africa.

APO Group is well qualified to provide communications support for SECAM and the Catholic Church in Africa.

APO Group will help us achieve continuity in our messaging that will ensure we are able to reach all African Catholics and promote organic pastoral solidarity on our continent

With a large client base made up of multinational companies, institutions and African governments, APO Group helps organizations as diverse as the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Coca-Cola and FIFA achieve communications goals across Africa.

For SECAM, APO Group will provide support across a broad range of communications services, including the distribution of press releases, training of communications staff, and the facilitation of meetings with media and other organizations intended to foster new relationships and raise the profile of the Catholic Church in Africa. 

For example, in February, APO Group coordinated a three-day official visit to Expo 2020 in Dubai for SECAM’s President, His Eminence Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, who is the highest-ranking member of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa.

APO Group will also work to train communications professionals within all Africa’s regional episcopal conferences:

  • Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM)
  • Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC)
  • Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa Region (ACERAC)
  • Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA/CERAO)
  • Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy of Egypt (AHCE)
  • Regional Episcopal Conference of North Africa (CERNA)
  • Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA)
  • Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA)
  • Episcopal Conferences of the Indian Ocean (CEDOI)

“Through APO Group’s communications experience and Public Relations expertise, we can make deeper connections with media and other prominent organizations,” said His Eminence Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, Head of the Catholic Church in Africa and President of SECAM. “APO Group will help us achieve continuity in our messaging that will ensure we are able to reach all African Catholics and promote organic pastoral solidarity on our continent.”

“Our mission is to ensure that Catholics from all over Africa feel connected to the Holy Father, the universal Church and the Vatican in their day-to-day faith experience,” said Bishop Badejo, a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communications and President of CEPACS. “Through APO Group’s training and communications expertise, our episcopal conferences and officials can better deliver our message to the very heart of Africa and the world.”

“This is an exciting and ambitious project that allows us to harness our truly Pan-African reach,” said Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard (www.Pompigne-Mognard.com), Founder and Chairman of APO Group. “I’m grateful to His Eminence Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, and the Catholic Church in Africa for the opportunity to work closely with the Episcopal Conferences in delivering informative, positive pastoral content to millions of Africans.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of APO Group.

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Ministers among hundreds of energy-sector leaders to attend AOW event

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Sinclair

The event kicks off with an invitation-only ministerial symposium focused on the theme of “Fostering innovation, attracting investment, and promoting sustainable growth in the oil, gas, and energy sectors”

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 4, 2024/APO Group/ — 

AOW: Investing in African Energy (https://AOWEnergy.com) – Africa’s leading oil, gas and energy event – has confirmed attendance for more than 80 ministers and senior officials, representing African governments, energy departments and regulators at next month’s event.

These influential stakeholders will be among the more than 1 600 senior delegates and industry leaders who will be attending the event to develop policy, share discoveries, secure investment, and shape Africa’s energy future.

The event kicks off with an invitation-only ministerial symposium focused on the theme of “Fostering innovation, attracting investment, and promoting sustainable growth in the oil, gas, and energy sectors.”

Given the recent major oil-and-gas discoveries across Africa, the energy transition and major geopolitical events, it is clear that the energy sector needs positive intervention

Among the officials and government ministers attending will be energy leaders from South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Eswatini, Uganda, CAR, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Gabon, Malawi, Morocco, Zanzibar, Liberia, Senegal, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone.

In addition, the event will feature high-level delegations from numerous national oil companies, as well as multilateral bodies including the African Union, (AU), African Energy Commission (AFREC), African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

AOW will see these energy leaders networking with C-suite executives and decision-makers from more than 760 top energy companies at daily networking events, to discuss insights, forge new relationships, and negotiate major energy deals.

“We are so excited to see the calibre of delegates at this year’s AOW event,” says Chief Executive Officer of Sankofa Events, Paul Sinclair. “Given the recent major oil-and-gas discoveries across Africa, the energy transition and major geopolitical events, it is clear that the energy sector needs positive intervention. The high-powered attendance proves AOW is a key platform to enable this intervention.”

Key themes to be discussed at this year’s AOW will be sustainable upstream development; expanding gas value chains; renewables and new energies; adoption of best-in-class technologies; and access to finance.

AOW: Investing in African Energy will culminate in a special anniversary party at Groot Constantia Vineyard to celebrate 30 years of the AOW event.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of AOW: Investing in African Energy.

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Afreximbank approves US$20.8 million for Starlink Global’s cashew factory project in Lagos

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PAPSS

The facility is expected to promote value addition which will guarantee increased earnings to the company while also fostering the creation of about 400 new jobs

CAIRO, Egypt, October 4, 2024/APO Group/ — 

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) has approved a US$20.8 million financing facility for Nigeria-based Starlink Global & Ideal Limited to enable the company construct and operate a 30,000-metric tonne per annum cashew processing factory in Lagos.

We are delighted at this partnership which promises to deliver significant impact on employment in Nigeria

According to the facility agreement signed in on July 22, 2024, Afreximbank will provide the funds in two tranches with the first tranche of US$7.48M going toward capital expenditure for the construction of the factory and the second, totalling US$13.25M to be deployed as working capital for the operations of the factory.

The facility is expected to promote value addition which will guarantee increased earnings to the company while also fostering the creation of about 400 new jobs once the factory becomes operational. It is also expected to support about 40 small and medium-sized enterprises.

Commenting on the transaction, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra Africa Trade and Export Development, Afreximbank, said that by supporting Starlink Global to establish a modern processing facility, Afreximbank is making it possible for Africa to add value to its agro-commodities, thereby facilitating exports and subsequent inflow of much-needed foreign exchange into the continent.

“We are delighted at this partnership which promises to deliver significant impact on employment in Nigeria. It will contribute to value creation and to the development of the local community while also improving the lots of smallholder farmers and small business suppliers that will work with Starlink across the value chain,” Mrs. Awani added.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

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Sonangol to Lead Decarbonized Oil & Gas (O&G) Development, Says Angolan National Oil Company (NOC) Head

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Sonangol

Participating in an on-stage interview at Angola Oil & Gas 2024, Sonangol CEO Sebastião Gaspar Martins emphasized that oil and gas remains a core focus for the national oil company

LUANDA, Angola, October 3, 2024/APO Group/ — 

Angola’s national oil company Sonangol reiterated its commitment to driving sustainable hydrocarbon development during the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) conference this week. Speaking during an “In-Conversation with” session, Sonangol CEO Sebastião Gaspar Martins stated that the company will not abandon oil and gas, but rather advance decarbonized oil and gas development.

We are looking at opportunities in the gas sector and have identified the right partner to develop non-associated gas

By investing in upstream oil and gas production while prioritizing low-carbon projects, Sonangol aims to boost national crude output, while diversifying and decarbonizing the industry. The NOC is focusing efforts on non-associated gas development, as well as alternative energy sources such as solar.

“We are looking at opportunities in the gas sector and have identified the right partner to develop non-associated gas. Gas produced from Angola LNG will be used for the production of fertilizer and we are evaluating the utilization of gas in the south of the country, linking gas with steel industries. We also have a blue carbon project, linked to the reduction of carbon through the plantation of mangroves. We have one area in Luanda and have identified four additional areas for this,” stated Gaspar Martins.

Sonangol has undergone transformation in recent years: following the creation of the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency (ANPG) in 2019, Sonangol transferred its role as national concessionaire and regulator. This transformation has aimed to make Sonangol more competitive and strengthen its capacity as an upstream operator. Concurrently, the government is partially privatizing the NOC, with privatization set to be complete in 2026. This process will enhance financial capacity, allowing Sonangol to drive new upstream projects forward.

“The transformation of Sonangol started several years ago, when we passed the regulatory, concessionaire role to the ANPG. At the time, we transferred almost 600 employees to the ANPG. After that, Sonangol underwent a restructuring program where we created five core business units from 36 different entities – starting with exploration and production. We want to go public, but we want to do it properly. So, we are currently going through all the processes to do this,” stated Gaspar Martins.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

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