The AAIC is organised by Expo Connect Angola in partnership with Skyliam Properties, the Cópia Group, and Angolan Business Beyond Borders, with the support of the Angola-Mozambique Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIAM) and the Angolan Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technologies, and Social Communication. The conference brings together heads of state, ministers, ambassadors, CEOs, investors, development banks, and business leaders from over 60 international markets.

Mr Cruz will address how ACG’s origination of integrated sport and entertainment districts contributes directly to inclusive economic growth. His intervention will focus on how sport infrastructure, when designed as a financially self-sustaining urban ecosystem, becomes a catalyst for large-scale job creation, skills development, accessible infrastructure, and long-term economic diversification.

The AAIC’s focus on accessibility and inclusion aligns directly with ACG’s approach to sport and entertainment district development. A Victory District™ is designed from inception to serve the widest possible community: creating permanent employment across dozens of professions, providing professional sport training facilities for young athletes, and generating economic activity that benefits surrounding neighbourhoods year-round.

“Sport infrastructure has the power to be one of the most inclusive economic assets a country can build,” said Paulo J. Cruz, CEO of ACG. “A Victory District™ does not just create stadiums. It creates thousands of permanent jobs, from hospitality to broadcast production, from sport coaching to facility management. It creates training pathways for young athletes. And it creates an urban ecosystem that generates economic activity 365 days a year. That is inclusive growth in practice, not in theory. I am honoured to share that vision at the AAIC alongside some of Africa’s most influential investors and decision-makers.”

The AAIC programme includes official MoU signing ceremonies, B2B investment rounds, VIP executive networking with senior government and business leaders across 10 dedicated Business Lounges, and the inauguration of Angola’s first assistive technology factory. The conference covers priority sectors including energy, mining, accessible tourism, agriculture, logistics, health, and infrastructure.

ACG’s Victory District™ framework is designed to originate integrated, mixed-use sport and entertainment districts that move beyond single-venue development models. Each district combines stadiums, indoor arenas, training academies, hotels, conference centres, retail, entertainment, residential, and commercial space within a single masterplanned development, financed by private and institutional capital without reliance on public subsidy.

Mr Cruz brings more than 28 years of experience across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe in originating, structuring, and delivering large-scale infrastructure, urbanisation, and real estate development initiatives. Prior to ACG, he served as Senior Vice President at DAMAC Group, the largest private real estate developer in the Middle East, and as Group CEO of LandAfrique, a pan-African development platform focused on industrial parks, infrastructure, housing, and power projects across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ricardo Gomez, Venezuela’s Vice Minister of Commercial Policy, outlined the country’s investment proposition, highlighting 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 193 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

“Venezuela combines a large hydrocarbon resource base with refining infrastructure and a market that needs reliable energy,” he said. “The opportunities extend from upstream projects to downstream and refining.”

The country’s amended Organic Hydrocarbons Law introduces new ways for international companies to enter the market. Hydrocarbon production participation contracts allow private operators to manage designated assets, oversee operations and market production under negotiated terms. Agreements can extend for 25 years, offering a longer investment horizon for field development and rehabilitation.

Restructured joint venture companies provide another route, retaining majority state ownership while allowing international partners to take on operational responsibilities through approved agreements. Direct ministerial contracts and strategic alliances offer additional opportunities in field redevelopment, oilfield services and infrastructure.

Potential investments span heavy-oil production in the Orinoco Belt, mature onshore fields, offshore gas, pipeline rehabilitation, export terminals and refinery upgrades. Venezuela’s target of signing 105 definitive oil contracts by year-end reflects its wider effort to attract operators and accelerate project development.

Scott Gilbert, CEO and Executive Director of Corcel Plc and Non-Executive Chairman of Apertura Energy, highlighted investor interest in the changing regulatory environment. “Venezuela is seeing a lot of interest as a result of aggressive fiscal and regulatory changes that are making the country more attractive,” he said.

Alongside these commercial opportunities, Venezuela is promoting its technical expertise through the Venezuelan University of Hydrocarbons (UVH). Celia Bejarano, the university’s President, explained how the institution trains engineers and geologists in geophysics, reservoir engineering, well management, natural gas and petrochemicals.

“The Venezuelan University of Hydrocarbons was created to deliver a specialized institution where the country can train its own recruits to develop its own premier resources,” Bejarano said.

Through its Africa-Venezuela Energy Partnership with the African Energy Chamber (AEC), UVH is advancing technical training, knowledge exchange and workforce development. The initiative could help African energy projects apply Venezuela’s experience in heavy-oil production and offshore engineering while strengthening local capabilities. Rene Awambeng, founder and managing partner of Premier Invest, highlighted this opportunity for African developers.

“When we are developing our assets here, we always import talent,” he said. “With the Venezuelan University of Hydrocarbons, we can actually leverage Venezuela’s immense experience to support local content development here in Africa.”

Also speaking during the discussion, NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC, emphasized the strategic value of closer ties between the regions. “Our energy industry has an amazing ally in Venezuela,” he said, describing the country as “open for business and ready to partner with Africa.”

“We want to make sure that we do it in a way that, when you buy your shares, you are happy with the performance of those shares. We are doing the internal work required to make sure that when we get to that point, it’s a successful story,” he said.

Sonangol’s 50th anniversary comes as Angola’s NOC develops opportunities across exploration, producing assets and domestic processing. Its next investment phase requires capital and technical partners to turn appraisal results into developments while delivering refinery infrastructure and expanding the value retained from Angola’s oil and gas production.

“We are thinking about what the next 50 years will be like, focusing on producing to transform. We are not only looking at managing resources but how we translate those resources into overall development in the country,” he said.

Sonangol’s September account of its Katambi-2 work in Block 24 described a completed formation test in a non-associated gas reservoir, providing further evidence for assessment of the field’s development potential. In its producing portfolio, the company and its partners also reported approximately 100 meters of net oil pay at PAC 416 in Block 3/05, as part of a program intended to increase operated production. The results give Sonangol a technical basis for future investment, while appraisal, development design and commercial arrangements remain necessary steps.

“If you look at our portfolio, we have both operated and non-operated assets. The focus is on making sure we are doing everything we can to make sure those assets are still producing at the highest rate possible. New developments such as Block 3/05 are advancing. We are also part of Kaminho with TotalEnergies,” Inácio shared.

Downstream, Angola’s government reported in September that the Lobito refinery was approximately 26% physically complete, with around $1.6 billion invested and completion envisaged for 2029. A potential petrochemical complex was under study. Alongside Cabinda’s initial 30,000-bpd refining phase, Lobito gives Sonangol’s diversification program a concrete industrial focus, with financing, construction progress and product marketing central to the next stage.