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African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energy 2024 to Advance African Energy Projects through Multi-Faceted Program

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African Energy Chamber

The African Energy Week conference returns to Cape Town with an expanded conference agenda, with investment and deal-signing at the forefront of dialogue

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 3, 2024/APO Group/ — 

African energy demand is projected to grow more than 30% by 2040, with oil demand expected to increase to 4.9 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2050. Gas demand will almost triple during the same period while the continent’s renewable energy capacity could reach as much as 750 GW by 2030. The continents over 125 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 620 trillion cubic feet of gas will not only play a role in meeting this demand but will support broader industrialization and economic growth.

As new opportunities emerge for foreign investors, the African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energy conference returns for its fourth edition from November 4-8 in Cape Town as the premier event to sign deals across the African energy market. This year, the conference offers an expanded agenda, with seven high-level stages hosted concurrently throughout the week offering delegates unparalleled access to the African energy market. As the official meeting platform for the industry, AEW: Invest in African Energy 2024 is the only event of its kind in Africa.

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.

Africa’s upstream market is buzzing with activity, driven by new discoveries that are prompting increased investment from both international and national oil companies.

Africa is not only the final frontier when it comes to oil and gas but has emerged as the market of choice for global investors

The African Energy Chamber’s (AEC) 2024 outlook – The State of African Energy – shows healthy levels of exploration drilling throughout the period 2024-2025, with Algeria, Egypt, Namibia and Nigeria driving the majority of activity. Over 11 high impact wells will be drilled during this period, with up to 177 blocks up for grabs. Amid this bullish outlook, AEW: Invest in African Energy’s Upstream E&P Forum will delve into emerging opportunities across the market. The forum will unpack Africa’s new oil and gas hotspots; maximizing Africa’s mature fields; crude oil trends; exploration and capital frontiers; and more.   

To achieve universal access to modern energy, Africa requires more than $25 billion in annual spending until 2030, presenting a strategic opportunity for capital-providers. The African Energy Finance Summit – hosted in collaboration with the African Export-Import Bank and S&P Global Commodity Insights – unites lenders, developers and operators to discuss the bankability of African energy projects. The summit tackles topics such as financing new energy solutions in Africa; innovative financing models; mergers and acquisitions; foreign exchange controls; and more.

In addition to spending across the upstream market, Africa’s downstream industry is experiencing rapid growth as focus shifts towards domestic refining and intra-African distribution. Nigeria brought Africa’s largest oil refinery online in 2023 – 650,000 bpd Dangote refinery – while Angola has three new refineries in development. The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline expects to reach FID by the end of 2024 while the development of domestic LPG capacity is poised to advance access to clean cooking solutions in Africa. As such, the AEW: Invest in African Energy conference will host a Clean Fuels Forum, with speakers unpacking the continent’s downstream market. Topics include refining and petrochemicals; innovative technology in downstream operations; storage capacity and integration; and many more.

As present, over 600 million people are without access to electricity in Africa, and as the population grows –expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050 – so will the demand for accessible power solutions. Efforts to monetize gas through power generation aim to enhance grid capacity while the adoption of off-grid solutions will accelerate electrification continent-wide. The AEW: Invest in African Energy Power Africa Summit will tackle the key challenges and opportunities across Africa’s power market. The summit will address green technology; gas-to-power; energy planning and integration; power infrastructure and trade; the power trilemma, and more.

While Africa faces an energy crisis, the continent also faces some of the worst impacts of the climate crisis. As such, many countries are opting for a just energy transition, whereby context-specific strategies are adopted to mitigate impacts and drive sustainable development. A Just Energy Transition Summit at the conference this November will explore Africa’s energy-climate nexus, with topics including king coal to clean coal; unlocking Africa’s future energy potential; the fundamental role of logistics; low-carbon technology and more.

“Africa is not only the final frontier when it comes to oil and gas but has emerged as the market of choice for global investors, owing largely to its unparalleled opportunities, rising role as a global exporter and increasingly attractive fiscal terms. As an industry, we will continue to call for more investment, more deals and accelerated project developments. Africa is not the only continent that needs its resources, markets across the world will need African energy in both the mid- and long-term,” stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.

Join the conference today and take part in the comprehensive program! Visit www.AECWeek.com for more information.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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China’s digital hub Hangzhou hosts conference on AI, OPC

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June 30, 2026

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OPC

HANGZHOU, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 June 2026 – The inaugural AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference was held from June 29 to 30 in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province. Centered on one-person company (OPC), a new form of smart economy in the AI era, the conference program comprised one opening ceremony and two parallel breakout sessions.

It gathered around 400 delegates from government departments, industry associations, financial institutions, AI enterprises and OPC startup operators across the country. Participants exchanged insights on AI innovation pathways and cross-industry integration strategies, injecting strong impetus into Hangzhou’s ambition to develop a national benchmark hub for AI+OPC entrepreneurship.

A series of key launches and milestone ceremonies took place during the opening segment. Official releases included the 2026 national OPC development observation report, Hangzhou’s 2026–2028 action plan and supporting policies to build a national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub, and a catalog of actionable AI+OPC application scenarios. Attendees also received an in-depth interpretation of the specifications for AI-enabled OPC community services and evaluation.

The ceremony featured multiple landmark initiatives: plaque awarding for Hangzhou’s priority AI+OPC incubation communities and dedicated observation sites, the official launch of the AI+OPC Community Alliance initiative, and a kickoff marking the official construction of the national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub.

The open forum session featured keynote speeches from distinguished industry and academic leaders. Speakers included Pan Yunhe, former executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Zhejiang University; Liang Gui, former executive vice governor of Jiangxi Province and ex-director of the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and Zou Ling, head of Hong Hub, Shangcheng District’s single-member unicorn startup acceleration community, who shared cutting-edge insights from varied perspectives.

A panel dialogue followed, bringing together representatives from Moshu OPC Community (Beijing E-Town), the School of Future Science and Engineering at Soochow University, Qingju Hub · Future Digital Intelligence Port (Shangcheng District), and Puhua Capital for in-depth industry exchanges.

Complementary concurrent events held throughout the conference included an OPC capital-industry matchmaking salon, a symposium on industry-education integration for AI-powered OPC sectors, and a national exchange forum for AI+OPC community practitioners.

OPC has emerged as a vibrant new engine driving economic vitality and underpinning high-quality development. Against the backdrop of a new development era, the inaugural Hangzhou AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference unites OPC innovators nationwide.

Drawing on the creative energy of millions of independent super-individual operators, the event delivers sustained digital momentum to fuel Hangzhou’s super-individual economy, while rolling out replicable local practices and actionable Hangzhou solutions to advance high-quality growth of smart economies nationwide.

 

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Hainan FTP marks 6-month milestone of special customs operations, signs deals during Hong Kong visit

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8 hours ago

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June 30, 2026

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Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 June 2026 – As the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) marked the six-month milestone since the launch of its full special customs operations, a Hainan provincial delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to Hong Kong. During the visit, the delegation signed deepened cooperation agreements with several major local chambers of commerce and promoted the latest policies introduced since the island-wide special customs operations took effect.

According to data released by Hainan Province during the visit, Hainan’s foreign trade has surged since the launch of special customs operations. As of June 17, the province’s total goods imports and exports reached RMB 173.98 billion (approximately US$24 billion), up 54.6% year on year. Imports of zero-tariff goods hit RMB 2.645 billion, a 120% jump that generated tariff savings of RMB 440 million. A total of 172,100 new market entities were registered—a 61% increase—including 1,240 foreign-invested enterprises. Zero-tariff items now account for 74% of all tariff lines, benefiting more than 12,000 market entities.

During the Hong Kong visit, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Provincial Committee (CCPIT Hainan) signed separate deepened cooperation MOUs with the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Under the MOUs, the parties will establish a regular liaison mechanism for the periodic exchange of economic and trade information, and will promote collaboration in areas including professional services, green finance, the digital economy, supply chain management, and cultural tourism. Mutual enterprise service desks will be set up to provide consulting services regarding policies and projects. The parties will leverage their complementary strengths to help Chinese mainland enterprises access overseas markets via Hong Kong, while facilitating Hong Kong companies’ entry into the Chinese mainland through Hainan.

The delegation also held talks with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, exploring ways for British and American businesses to leverage Hainan’s value-added processing tariff exemptions and multifunctional free trade accounts to position themselves in regional supply chains and cross-border investment and financing. HSBC, De Beers, and other British firms are already active in Hainan, and the UK served as the Guest of Honor country at the 2025 China International Consumer Products Expo.

According to industry analysts, amid the shifting international trade landscape, Hainan is leveraging Hong Kong’s “super-connector” role to accelerate its integration with global capital and business networks, while simultaneously offering the Hong Kong business community a policy testing ground for entering the Chinese mainland market.

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Africa’s Grid Constraints Come into Focus as Regional Markets Push Toward Integration

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4 days ago

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June 26, 2026

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Africa

Regional power pools are advancing and renewable pipelines are growing, but the regulatory and financial architecture needed to connect them remains the continent’s most critical infrastructure gap – an issue central to the Power Africa Today conference at AEW 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa’s electricity demand is projected to nearly double to 2,291 TWh by 2050, requiring an estimated $30 billion in transmission and grid infrastructure investment to unlock and integrate new generation capacity. Yet across the continent, grid systems are struggling to keep pace with rapidly expanding supply pipelines and rising demand.

In Nigeria, repeated nationwide grid collapses as recently as February 2026 underscore the fragility of aging transmission infrastructure. In East Africa, tower failures along the 428 km Loiyangalani-Suswa line temporarily stranded output from Lake Turkana Wind Power – Africa’s largest wind installation. Meanwhile, demand growth pressures are accelerating across North Africa, where electricity consumption is expected to rise by around 50% by 2035, driven by urbanization, desalination projects, and climate-related temperature increases.

Despite these constraints, generation investment continues to accelerate across Africa, particularly in renewables, gas-to-power and hybrid systems. However, without equivalent investment in transmission and interconnection, much of this new capacity risks being underutilized or stranded. This growing imbalance between generation and grid capacity is driving a sharper focus on system-wide planning and regional market design – issues that will be central to the newly launched Power Africa Today conference at African Energy Week 2026. The platform will bring together policymakers, utilities, investors and developers to explore how regional interconnection, cross-border trading frameworks and financing structures can better align generation growth with grid expansion.

Power Markets Experiment with Reform

Alongside infrastructure challenges, Africa’s electricity sector is undergoing gradual – but uneven – market reform. Most countries still operate vertically integrated systems dominated by state utilities, but a growing number are introducing competitive frameworks to attract private capital and improve efficiency.

Zimbabwe opened its electricity market to full private participation across generation, transmission and distribution in 2025, targeting $9 billion in new investment. South Africa is advancing one of the continent’s most ambitious grid expansion programs, with plans for 14,500 km of new transmission lines and 133,000 MVA of transformer capacity by 2034, alongside mechanisms designed to crowd in private financing. Kenya, meanwhile, has introduced open access regulations enabling independent power producers to wheel electricity directly to multiple off-takers, reshaping how generation assets interface with the grid.

Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future

Regional Integration Remains Fragmented

Efforts to connect Africa’s fragmented power systems are progressing, though at different speeds across regions. In Southern Africa, the World Bank’s RETRADE SAPP program, approved in 2025, is deploying $12 million to strengthen renewable integration and transmission capacity across 12 member states. In East Africa, the Ethiopia–Kenya–Tanzania Electricity Highway is now in trial operations at up to 2,000 MW, marking a significant step toward a more interconnected regional grid.

West Africa is also moving toward deeper integration, with permanent synchronization of the West Africa Power Pool expected in 2026. Analysts, including the African Finance Corporation, argue that such synchronization is critical to unlocking large-scale hydropower potential and industrial demand across the region. Longer term, full synchronization between the Eastern and Southern African power pools – targeted for the end of 2026 – could create one of the world’s largest cross-border electricity trading corridors.

Building Bankable Financial Architectures

While interconnection is advancing, infrastructure alone is not enough to create investable electricity markets. Investors consistently cite the lack of standardized offtake structures, creditworthy counterparties, and cross-border payment guarantees as key barriers to scaling capital deployment.

New models are emerging to address these constraints. Africa GreenCo, operating across Zambia, Namibia and South Africa, is helping to aggregate independent power producers under a single creditworthy intermediary, standardizing power purchase agreements and reducing counterparty risk. At a broader level, AUDA-NEPAD estimates that Africa requires around $30 billion in additional investment to complete priority transmission corridors and establish three fully interconnected regional trading blocs by 2030.

“Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “The question at Africa Energy Week is not whether integration is possible – the evidence is already there. The question is which regulatory frameworks and financial structures will get projects to financial close, and which markets will be ready when capital is looking to move.”

The Power Africa Today conference will run alongside AEW 2026, taking place October 12–16 in Cape Town, and will focus on the regulatory, financial and infrastructural architecture needed to build interconnected electricity markets capable of attracting institutional capital and delivering reliable, cross-border power at scale.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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