CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 11, 2026/APO Group/ –African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 has officially kicked off with over 10,000 attendees convening in Cape Town for Africa’s biggest energy gathering of the year. Dubbed Africa’s premier dealmaking platform, the event has transitioned from a conference into a movement capable of reshaping the continent’s energy future. From government leaders and global energy majors to investors, financiers, national oil companies and technology providers, the industry has arrived in Cape Town to chart a new course for Africa’s energy development.

 




  

Technical Workshops Kick Off AEW Discussions

The AEW program has officially begun with the start of this year’s technical workshops. The 8th Meeting of the APPO NOCs CEOs’ Forum will bring African national oil companies together, while the Deal Room will give project sponsors and developers an opportunity to present active oil, gas, energy and infrastructure opportunities directly to investors and lenders.

The African Farmout Forum will showcase available acreage and farmout opportunities, while dedicated workshops and masterclasses will provide targeted engagement on markets, project finance and industry capacity. The Global Energy Leaders Forum will also put energy security, geopolitical realignment and investment at the center of discussions, examining how Africa can convert changing global energy flows into long-term contracts, final investment decisions and greater energy security.

Looking Ahead at AEW 2026

Over the coming days, AEW 2026 will explore opportunities emerging across the entire energy value chain in Africa. The AEW Townhall will bring governments and industry together around the strategic issues defining the continent’s energy future, while the Upstream E&P Forum will tackle licensing, exploration, drilling, M&A and production growth. The Energy Finance Forum, meanwhile, will put capital at the center of the conversation. The Energy Additions Forum will examine the infrastructure and resources required to expand reliable energy supply and support industrialization, while the Downstream & Petchem Forum will explore refining, fuels, petrochemicals and opportunities to capture more value from African resources.

A Global Conversation in Cape Town

Alongside its commercial program, AEW 2026 will convene some of the most consequential global energy discussions taking place this year. Targeted sessions include the OPEC-Africa Roundtable; the Russia-Africa Energy Investment Forum; and the Global Energy Leaders Forum. A series of roundtables will drill further into issues affecting project development. These include the Local Content Roundtable as well as ministerial and country-focused discussions that bring governments directly into conversations with investors and operators.

AEW will also expand beyond traditional energy discussions through two dedicated conferences. Renegade Intel will explore the convergence of energy, artificial intelligence, data centers and digital infrastructure, while Power Africa Today will tackle power-sector investment, transmission, storage, grid modernization and the reliable electricity supply required to support African industrialization.

Celebrating Music and Energy Progress

AEW 2026 goes beyond conference dialogue. The first day of the event will close with the Just Energy Transition Concert, the event’s official pre-conference networking icebreaker and cultural showcase. The African Energy Awards & Gala Dinner returns on Tuesday to celebrate the companies, projects and individuals helping drive the continent’s energy industry forward.

Technology and Innovation Take the Exhibition Floor

Running alongside the main conference, dedicated technical stages – The Drill Room and The Innovation Hub – will host specialized presentations on exploration, subsurface technologies, LNG, infrastructure, asset integrity and other operational challenges. The exhibition will serve as another commercial hub throughout the week, connecting operators, service companies, technology providers, governments and prospective partners.

“Ten thousand delegates have come to Cape Town because Africa is ready to move projects forward. AEW is Africa’s energy movement – where governments, investors and industry come together to turn resources into projects, projects into deals and deals into development. This week is about action, investment and building Africa’s energy future on African soil,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 10, 2026/APO Group/ –Venezuela will send an official government delegation to African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town, bringing senior figures from its Ministry of People’s Power for Hydrocarbons and its national university for oil and gas education to the continent’s premier energy event. The delegation includes Ricardo Gómez, Vice Minister of Commercial Policy; Celia Bejarano, Rector of the Universidad Venezolana de los Hidrocarburos (UVH); and Carlos Espinoza, a professional advisor in the Ministry’s petroleum division. The delegation’s participation marks the latest step in an Africa-Venezuela energy partnership that has gathered momentum throughout 2026.
 




 

In February, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) took a group of African energy leaders to Caracas. While there, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry and state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). The agreement commits both sides to work together on upstream development and modernizing refineries. It also opens the door to shipping liquefied petroleum gas and bitumen to Africa and broadening technical training. Venezuela is an honorary member of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO). It later sent Vice Minister Arturo Gil to Cape Town to build on the agreement.

AEW 2026 is built around dealmaking, with sessions spanning the full energy value chain and a clear focus on moving capital into projects. Senior Venezuelan representation in Cape Town gives African national oil companies and investors direct access to the officials driving Venezuela’s hydrocarbons revival and fosters workforce cooperation with the continent.

Ricardo Gómez heads the Vice Ministry of Commercial Policy, the office within the Ministry responsible for coordinating and advancing the sale of Venezuela’s hydrocarbons. His portfolio aligns closely with the MoU’s trade provisions, which identified liquefied petroleum gas and bitumen as potential exports to Africa. Venezuela’s resource base gives the trade relationship considerable depth, with the country holding some 300 billion barrels of oil reserves and large volumes of natural gas.

Celia Bejarano leads UVH, Venezuela’s public university for hydrocarbons education, headquartered in Los Teques. The university has become a cornerstone of the Africa-Venezuela partnership. During an AEC working visit to Caracas, the Chamber and UVH worked through how African engineers could train at the university. The AEC has since committed to sending 10 to 15 participants from across Africa through dedicated technical programs at UVH, drawing on Venezuela’s decades of producing heavy crude onshore and developing offshore fields.

“When we went to Caracas in February, we said the relationship had to go both ways. Now Venezuela is coming to Cape Town, and I want our companies to make the most of it, whether that means trade in gas and bitumen or getting more of our young engineers trained at the university,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.

The Caracas MoU also set up a joint working group tasked with pinpointing investment prospects and lining up projects for African and Venezuelan companies. AEW 2026 gives the partnership’s African counterparts a platform to engage the delegation in person as the work moves forward.

African Energy Week 2026 takes place October 12-16 at the Cape Town International Convention Center. To register as a delegate, visit  https://apo-opa.co/4zr7ekJ.

 

NEW ALAMEIN, Egypt, October 9, 2026/APO Group/ –H.E. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, officially launched the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum (www.AlameinForum.com), bringing together African heads of state, investors, business leaders and financial institutions to advance partnerships that can drive growth across the continent.

 




  

Over the two-day Forum, discussions focused on turning Africa’s resources, entrepreneurial talent and growing markets into productive investment, stronger industries and employment. Delegates called for greater African ownership of the continent’s economic future, supported by economic diplomacy, regional cooperation and access to finance.

Convened by Egypt alongside the African Union, the African Union Development Agency–NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) and the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), the Forum connected political leadership with business expertise through high-level discussions, sector panels, bilateral meetings, an exhibition and a dedicated Startup Arena.

The meeting brought together some of the continent’s most prominent private-sector leaders, reflecting the Forum’s focus on putting business at the heart of Africa’s growth agenda. Participants included Mr. Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited; Mr. Hichem Elloumi, Chairman and CEO of COFICAB Group; Mr. Mohamed El Kettani, CEO of Attijariwafa Bank; Dr. Corneille Karekezi, Group Managing Director and CEO, AfricaRe; Mr. Selim Basak, Co-founder and Head of Origination, GemCorp; Mr. Agostinho Kapaia, Chairman and CEO, Opaia Group and Mr. Ahmed Ezz, Chairman of Ezz Steel.

African enterprise, capital and ownership

The discussions examined how investment can give Africa greater productive capacity and resilience. Mr. Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, argued that growth should be assessed through the lasting economic benefits it creates:

“Growth does not tell us enough. We should ask: what are we growing, how many productive jobs does it generate, and how much economic resilience does it leave behind?”

Building African industries, processing resources locally and producing higher-value goods would help reduce dependence on imported fuel, medicines and technology. Dangote also highlighted how fragmented regulations, standards and border procedures constrain businesses seeking to operate at scale.

Alongside competitive enterprises, Africa needs financial institutions capable of supporting its development priorities. Dr. George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Afreximbank, connected that ambition with African ownership and collective action.

“Egypt has turned Alamein into a city where Africans decide their own future,” he said, recognising Egypt’s longstanding support for the Bank.

Elombi highlighted Afreximbank’s support for African economies during periods of disruption and called for assessments of African financial institutions to reflect their performance, ownership models and development role.

Mobilising African private capital was equally important. Mrs. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, AUDA-NEPAD, called for businesses and investors to play a greater role in financing the continent’s transformation:

“We need more Africans investing in Africa. We need more African businesses able to go beyond national markets, build regional value chains and compete globally.”

Closing investment gaps requires private capital at scale, supported by policies that enable companies to expand and young entrepreneurs to participate in economic growth.

Coordination among financial institutions can increase the resources available. Mr. Abdullah Almusaibeeh, President, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), highlighted the financing potential of partnerships with institutions including the Africa Finance Corporation and the Trade and Development Bank.

“When we coordinate with other institutions, we can bring substantially more financing to a project than any one institution could provide alone.”

Regional partnerships and practical results

Stronger production and investment depend on connections between African markets. Discussions highlighted infrastructure corridors, commercial diplomacy and public-private partnerships as tools for extending opportunities across borders.

Mr. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson, African Union Commission, emphasised the relationship between productive capacity and prosperity:

“Domestic transformation creates jobs, value addition and wealth.”

He highlighted the need for small and medium-sized enterprises to benefit from cooperation, alongside practical reforms such as payments in local currencies and financing guarantees.

H.E. Évariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi and Chairperson of the African Union, reinforced the ambition to strengthen Africa’s economic position:

“We invite partners to see Africa not just as a market of consumption, but as a continent of production, innovation and investment.”

Regional infrastructure illustrated how that ambition can work in practice. H.E. Ambassador Téte António, Minister of External Relations, Angola, highlighted the Lobito Corridor’s potential to connect Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo and generate benefits beyond national borders.

Mr. Massad Boulos, Senior Advisor to the President of the United States for Arab and African Affairs, emphasised commercial partnerships and diplomacy’s role in opening markets and clearing obstacles. Contributions from Burundi and Nigeria also highlighted export promotion, peace, entrepreneurship and diaspora investment as foundations for growth.

Mr. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, stressed that the Forum’s success should be measured by the transactions and partnerships it helps generate.

Across the programme, panels explored agriculture and food systems, energy, infrastructure and logistics, trade, digital innovation and health markets, connecting policymakers, businesses and financiers around investment opportunities. The Startup Arena and African Youth in Artificial Intelligence Competition placed emerging enterprises and young innovators alongside established business leaders.

The shared priority over the two-day Forum was to turn dialogue into delivery by mobilising capital, building productive industries and creating partnerships that translate Africa’s economic potential into lasting prosperity.