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APO Group and Africa’s Business Heroes Win Prestigious PRovoke Africa SABRE Award

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Since 2020, APO Group has worked alongside the Jack Ma Foundation to execute a holistic campaign for the ABH Prize across the continent

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 19, 2022/ — APO Group (www.APO-opa.com), the leading Pan-African communications consultancy and press release distribution service, is delighted to announce that it has won a prestigious PRovoke Africa SABRE Award for the public relations campaign around the Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition.

The ABH program (www.AfricaBusinessHeroes.org) is designed to promote entrepreneurship in Africa and empower the next generation of African business leaders. APO Group’s involvement in a dedicated Public Relations campaign in 2021 led to one of the most successful editions of the ABH Prize Competition ever, and helped raise the profile of African entrepreneurship throughout the continent and beyond.

The PRovoke Africa SABRE Awards are Africa’s leading Public Relations Awards. Held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the 2022 SABRE Awards attracted more than 2000 entries from Public Relations agencies all over the continent. A jury of industry leaders chaired by PRovoke Media founder Paul Holmes, was looking for campaigns that were brave, authentic, shareable, and caught the public imagination – and ABH ticked all of those boxes.

The ABH Prize is one of the Jack Ma Foundation’s key philanthropic initiatives, with a 10-year commitment to supporting the development of a new entrepreneurial ecosystem. Each year, ten finalists are selected from tens of thousands of applications to win a share of a $1.5 million prize pool in grant money.

Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba Group and the Jack Ma Foundation, launched the ABH Prize after he made his first trip to Africa in 2017 and was inspired by the energy and entrepreneurial potential of the young people he met. 

Since 2020, APO Group has worked alongside the Jack Ma Foundation to execute a holistic campaign for the ABH Prize across the continent, while APO Group Founder and Chairman, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, has been a semi-final judge for the last two editions of the competition.

The work done by APO Group and the ABH team was voted the overall winner in the Northern Africa category of the 2022 SABRE Awards. The ABH Prize is a truly Pan-African campaign, reaching applicants all over the continent. APO Group’s team worked to provide a strategic media relations plan for ABH that would generate maximum media coverage and drive applications across Africa.

Despite the vast geographical challenges from the pandemic, the campaign was a huge success. Some of the highlights included: three large media events attended by hundreds of African media; an astounding 94 media interviews secured for ABH spokespeople, judges and entrepreneurs; and a social media promotion campaign that reached more than 29 million people.

This added up to one of the most successful ABH competitions ever with more than 20,000 quality applications, more female entrepreneurs than ever before, and every single African country represented.

“Africa’s Business Heroes is an ambitious project, and to cover all 54 African countries requires extensive Public Relations knowledge and expertise,” said Jason Pau, Executive Director of International, Jack Ma Foundation. “Working with APO Group has always been delightful and effective, and we are thrilled that the campaign as well as the African entrepreneur community it represents, has received the recognition it deserved with this fantastic SABRE award.” 

“The Jack Ma Foundation shares our vision for the future of business in Africa, and together our teams have worked tirelessly on raising the profile of the ABH Prize,” said APO Group Founder and Chairman, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard. “This campaign really caught the public imagination, and has shown the world the vast potential Africa has as a hub for the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

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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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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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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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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