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Gas Market Optimization Key to Addressing South Africa’s Looming Energy Crisis

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Energy Crisis

By fast-tracking the development of recent gas discoveries, accelerating exploration activities and maximizing gas exploitation, South Africa has an opportunity to reduce blackouts across the country

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 19, 2022/APO Group/ — 

While South Africa’s energy crisis continues to worsen with state utility Eskom intensifying the implementation of load shedding; maximizing the exploitation of the country’s gas reserves is key to ensuring energy security, affordability and reliability.

In addition to stabilizing energy supply, the optimization of the gas sector provides an opportunity for Africa’s second-largest economy to attract massive investments required to drive economic expansion through employment creation, GDP growth and industrialization.

However, various challenges, including unjustified energy transition-related litigations against hydrocarbon development, weak technical solutions, underdeveloped gas infrastructure, delays in gas project rollout, policy gaps and inadequate investments in exploration and production continue to hinder South Africa’s gas market from reaching its full potential, plunging the country’s energy sector into turmoil.

As litigation continues to scare away investments, with the country halting massive oil and gas investments of up to R1 billion within a period of less than two months – according to energy regulator Petroleum Agency SA – a major energy crisis is on the horizon for South Africa. In addition to this, major player ExxonMobil is also exiting the market, exacerbating the need to fast-track upstream production investments and activities in a major way.

“Our view is that natural gas will be part of the transition, and yet we are told that all fossil fuels are bad. Africa must position its oil and gas at the forefront of global energy. When we commit to net zero, we do so with the reality that energy can guarantee economic growth and industrialisation. The way forward is for Africa to make the most of its existing and applicable resources. The African continent must develop new technology and strategies to ensure it continues to develop its resources,” South African Minerals and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, said during the opening ceremony of African Energy Week (AEW) last year.

There is a vital and urgent need for the country to ease regulation and create an enabling environment for oil and gas projects to take off

The African Energy Chamber (AEC), as the voice of the African energy sector, strongly believes that South Africa’s solution to addressing its current and looming energy problems is gas.

The Chamber is calling upon the South African government and energy market stakeholders to speed up the development of recent discoveries, including TotalEnergies’ Brulpadda and Luiperd projects, to generate additional energy capacity for security while also pushing forward exploration activities and infrastructure development across the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.

“South Africa’s vast gas resources provide an opportunity to boost declining power generation and there is a vital and urgent need for the country to ease regulation and create an enabling environment for oil and gas projects to take off,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.

By easing regulation and replicating oil and gas environmental sustainability best practices such as those implemented in Mozambique and Namibia where massive gas projects such as the Graff, Venus, Coral Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Area 1 LNG Trains 1 & 2 and the Area 4 LNG Trains 1 & 2 are being fast-forwarded for energy security, South Africa has an opportunity to attract investments required to curb its energy problems by leveraging domestic energy resources.

TotalEnergies’ planned $3 billion investment to bring up to 2.1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas from the Luiperd and 1.3 tcf of gas from the Brulpadda projects on the market by 2027 is a step in the right direction.

“The best way for South Africa to get rid of load shedding in the long term is by optimizing the development and exploitation of its 60 tcf of gas reserves offshore and about 200 tcf that are onshore starting with TotalEnergies’ Brulpadda and Luiperd discoveries, while also creating an enabling environment for firms including major Shell to expand exploration activities,” Ayuk continues, adding that “Renewables, including solar and wind, remain expensive for ordinary people and will not provide the baseload power which South Africa requires to address its growing energy crisis. We believe a resilient energy mix in South Africa is one that encompasses more coal and gas.”

In this regard, AEC’s African Energy Week (AEW), Africa’s premier event for the oil and gas sector, which will take place from 18 – 21 October, 2022 in Cape Town, will host the country’s energy market stakeholders, policymakers and both regional and international energy companies and investors to discuss the role of gas in stabilizing South Africa’s energy production and supply.

AEW 2022 will host panel discussions and high-level meetings on the important role of indigenous gas in helping both South Africa and Africa as a whole to mitigate high energy prices and chronic shortages resulting from geopolitical tensions, and fast-track industrialization, manufacturing and accelerating job creation.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Week (AEW).

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Namibia’s Orange Basin Moves Toward First Oil at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026

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African Energy Chamber

The “Invest in Namibia: Transforming Discoveries into Production” session will examine how Namibia can turn its offshore oil boom into a broader industrial opportunity through local suppliers, skills development, technology transfer and domestic investment

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 27, 2026/APO Group/ –After a series of major offshore discoveries transformed Namibia into one of the world’s most closely watched exploration frontiers, attention is shifting from proving resources to building the infrastructure, partnerships and industrial capabilities needed to bring them into production. At African Energy Week (AEW) 2026, the session “Invest in Namibia: Transforming Discoveries into Production. Orange Basin’s Path to First Oil” will examine how the country can capture value beyond the development of individual oil fields and use the emerging petroleum sector as a catalyst for wider economic growth.





 

TotalEnergies’ Venus discovery is technically ready to move toward a Final Investment Decision, with negotiations on fiscal terms still underway. The project’s development concept targets around 150,000 barrels per day at peak production, with first oil potentially around 2030. FEED has been completed and major contractors selected, bringing Namibia’s first potential deepwater oil development closer to execution.

The real measure of Namibia’s oil opportunity will not simply be how many barrels it produces, but how much economic value those barrels create at home

Meanwhile, the Orange Basin continues to attract major international players. TotalEnergies and Galp strengthened their positions across the Venus and Mopane discoveries in 2025, with TotalEnergies becoming operator of Mopane and Galp taking a participating interest in Venus. In August 2026, Equinor agreed to acquire a 17.4% stake in Chevron’s PEL 90, marking its first upstream entry into a new country since 2017. The block is expected to see another exploration well before the end of the year.

The scale of investment now being contemplated makes the question of local economic participation increasingly urgent. Namibia’s draft Local Content Policy identifies the development of national capabilities, employment, local procurement and stronger domestic value chains as central to ensuring that petroleum resources generate benefits beyond government revenues. The government has also highlighted technical training and partnerships with universities and industry as priorities for preparing Namibians for the emerging oil and gas sector.

For Namibia, this means moving beyond an export-led model in which capital, equipment and specialist expertise flow in and crude flows out. Developing local suppliers, financing Namibian businesses, building research and training hubs and creating opportunities for joint ventures could help establish capabilities that extend well beyond the life of individual oil projects. The opportunity spans engineering and fabrication, logistics, marine services, environmental management, digital technologies and other areas of the petroleum supply chain.

“The real measure of Namibia’s oil opportunity will not simply be how many barrels it produces, but how much economic value those barrels create at home,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “Namibia has a chance to build a competitive African energy industry around its discoveries – one that creates jobs, develops local companies, transfers technology and gives Namibians a meaningful stake in the country’s energy future.”

The session will look beyond first oil itself to the ecosystem required to sustain production and translate upstream investment into long-term industrial development. With Venus, Mopane and further Orange Basin exploration moving toward development, Namibia has an opportunity to establish the commercial partnerships, financing structures and technical capabilities needed to ensure its petroleum boom becomes an economy-wide growth story.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.




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BUTEC, secures major Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for Casablanca Waste-to-Energy Project

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BUTEC

Serving a population of more than 4.2 million people across Greater Casablanca, this project represents a significant step in the region’s transition towards a more sustainable and circular approach to waste management

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, August 28, 2026/APO Group/ –The consortium comprising Nareva, Kanadevia Inova and Itochu Corporation, through its 33.5-year concession agreement with the Municipality of Casablanca, has entrusted BUTEC (www.BUTEC.com) with a major Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for Casablanca’s landmark Waste-to-Energy (WtE) project, leveraging BUTEC’s multidisciplinary engineering and contracting capabilities for one of Morocco’s most significant waste management and energy recovery developments.

 

For the delivery of this landmark project, BUTEC has joined forces with the Switzerland-based Kanadevia Inova, a global leader in Waste-to-Energy and renewable gas solutions.

Located northwest of the Mediouna landfill in the Casablanca-Settat region of the Kingdom of Morocco, this ultra-large waste incineration facility will process approximately 1.5 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste annually, significantly reducing reliance on landfill.

By diverting the waste from landfill and converting it into energy, this plant is expected to prevent up to 1.0 tonne of CO₂-equivalent emissions per tonne of waste while generating 126 MWe of baseload electricity.

BUTEC is establishing itself as the generalist EPC contractor of choice in this strategic sector

Serving a population of more than 4.2 million people across Greater Casablanca, this project represents a significant step in the region’s transition towards a more sustainable and circular approach to waste management, while supporting Morocco’s broader energy transition and long-term decarbonization ambitions.

BUTEC’s Scope of Work:

While Kanadevia Inova is responsible for the technology and the process part of the EPC works, as well as operations support, long-term maintenance, and financing of the facility, BUTEC will be responsible for civil works for the whole facility and for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of Non-Process buildings, facilities, and associated works, including all civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works, as well as the external infrastructure works required for the Project.

Commenting on the significance of the award, Raymond Daou (SVP Strategy & Business Development) stated:

“Building on our affiliates’ long-standing presence in Morocco, where BUTEC has established itself as one of the country’s leading players in Electromechanical Solutions, the Group is reinforcing, through this landmark contract, its contribution to the Kingdom’s sustainable development ambitions.

Furthermore, with three consecutive large-scale Waste-to-Energy projects across the geographies in which it operates, BUTEC is establishing itself as the generalist EPC contractor of choice in this strategic sector. This latest award confirms once again our ability to combine multidisciplinary engineering expertise, strong local execution capabilities and close cooperation with world-leading process technology partners to deliver complex energy and environmental facilities.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of BUTEC Group.

 

 




 

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Asantehene opens Africa Business Investment Summit in Washington, DC with a $500m Investment Target in Africa

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Asantehene

The opening ceremony, themed “The Asante Crown Meets the Diaspora,” convened more than 400 registered delegates, including senior government officials, C-suite executives, and US-based institutional investors

 




 

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, August 28, 2026/APO Group/ —

  • Asantehene presented a royal vision for Africa’s economic renaissance
  • Day 1 proceeded under the theme – The Vision Day: Unlocking Africa’s Century, A Diaspora Mandate”
  • Fireside chat with Boris Kodjoe on The Diaspora Return

The Africa Business Investment Summit 2026 opened this morning at the MGM National Harbor, in Washington D.C. Metro, with a royal keynote by the Summit’s Patron, His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, as the Millennium Excellence Week hosts its first event outside of Ghana.

The opening ceremony, themed “The Asante Crown Meets the Diaspora,” convened more than 400 registered delegates, including senior government officials, C-suite executives, and US-based institutional investors. They were drawn together under a single mandate: to facilitate $500 million in structured capital commitments between African deal originators and US institutional capital during the two-day summit.

Delivering his keynote address, His Majesty articulated a vision of African economic sovereignty where the diaspora serves as architects of continental development. Speaking with characteristic authority, His Majesty called on African governments, diaspora communities, and international institutional partners to align capital, policy frameworks, and political will behind a shared agenda for the continent’s economic future.

In his address, His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene said: “For too long, Africa has been described mainly in terms of its deficiencies. We have heard of the roads not built, the electricity not generated, the jobs not created, the capital not available, and the institutions not strong enough,”

For too long, Africa has been described mainly in terms of its deficiencies

Speaking further he noted that “Africa must no longer be regarded merely as a continent of future potential. Africa is already becoming a central part of the future global economy, and those who understand this early will position themselves advantageously.”

Honorable Sampson Ahi, Deputy Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, who represented the President of the Republic of Ghana, detailed macroeconomic indicators signalling domestic economic recovery and industrial policy priorities: “ Our ambition is transformation. We want an economy that moves beyond exporting raw materials to manufacturing finished products, creating value, jobs, and shared prosperity. We want capital that drives productivity, entrepreneurship, and innovation. This is the philosophy behind the twenty-four-hour economy program, which is a commitment stimulating round-the-clock production, improving productivity, and developing a competitive and export-oriented economy.”

The first day of the summit concluded under the theme “The Vision Day: Unlocking Africa’s Century, A Diaspora Mandate”, exploring through a series of plenary sessions the most pressing deal themes in US–Africa investment today.

Programme spotlights included: The Diaspora Return, a fireside chat with Boris Kodjoe, Beyond Remittances: Building Africa’s Sixth Region, diaspora capital beyond transfers, The New Gold Rush: Africa’s Seat at America’s Critical Minerals Table,  Ghana’s Gold Moment: From the Gold Coast to Global Market Power, The Diaspora Dollar: Fintech and the Next Remittance Corridor and Powering the Continent: Energy, Infrastructure and the US–Africa Partnership

The second and final day of the event will continue to explore investment opportunities across the continent through sector spotlights on the Creative Economy, Health & Pharma, Technology, and Digital Financial Services.

Following these plenaries, the event will conclude with bilateral investment meetings that will translate the vision outlined in the plenary hall into concrete investment decisions.

Review Day 1 Plenary Sessions: https://apo-opa.co/4cPkRRP

Watch Day 2 Live Stream: https://apo-opa.co/4gYIxFP

  • Day 2 to explore investment opportunities and conclude with bilateral investment meetings

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Millennium Excellence Foundation.

 

 




 

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