CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 8, 2026/APO Group/ –Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources of the Republic of South Africa, has been confirmed as a featured speaker at the upcoming African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 Conference and Exhibition, where he is expected to lay out the reform agenda reshaping the country’s upstream oil and gas sector and its drive to convert long-stranded offshore gas into production.

 

South Africa is pursuing one of the most significant upstream overhauls in its history, anchored by a new law that gives oil and gas their own regulatory regime for the first time. The reforms position the host nation as both a destination for exploration capital and a future producer along an Atlantic margin that has drawn the world’s largest oil companies to the region.

At the center of the shift is the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act (UPRDA), which President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law in October 2024. The Act separates petroleum from the mining statute that has long regulated both sectors. It also creates a single petroleum right covering exploration and production along with a 20% carried interest for the state. The UPRDA awaits a presidential proclamation to take effect, and implementing regulations that went through a further round of industry comment in early 2026 are now being finalized.

Mantashe has emerged as the most forceful advocate for accelerating the sector. He has long-argued that South Africa must shift from importing refined products to producing its own, warning that dependence on foreign supply leaves the economy exposed to global price shocks. This shift becomes increasingly more importance in the current global climate, where supply security has become a major challenge – particularly for import-reliance economies such as South Africa. As such, Mantashe has repeatedly pressed for faster licensing and fewer legal delays to exploration. AEW 2026 is a key platform to bring this discussion to a global audience.

“South Africa has the geology for exploration. Now it is building the regulatory certainty it needs to turn discoveries into bankable projects,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “A clear petroleum framework and a credible state partner are what international capital needs to commit to the Orange Basin.”

Offshore, TotalEnergies – operator of Block 3B/4B in the Orange Basin – is preparing to begin drilling in South African waters in 2026 pending final regulatory approvals. The acreage sits on trend with the Venus discovery in neighboring Namibia, where TotalEnergies is developing the basin’s first oil project.

Onshore, momentum is building in Mpumalanga, where gas developer Kinetiko Energy’s Amersfoort project has logged sustained high-flow results and is advancing plans for an LNG pilot plant. Mantashe has also signaled that government is moving to lift the long-standing moratorium on shale gas development, with the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) estimating recoverable Karoo reserves at 209 tcf.

Mantashe is also expected to report on successes of the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), the state entity formed in May 2025 through the merger of PetroSA, iGas and the Strategic Fuel Fund. Positioned as the country’s petroleum champion, SANPC is intended to anchor state participation across the value chain as South Africa works toward 6 GW of gas-fired power by 2030.

As AEW 2026 prepares to convene policymakers, investors and operators at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from October 12-16, Mantashe’s address carries added weight as the host nation’s signal to the market. His message is expected to be direct: South Africa is open for upstream investment and ready to move from potential to production.

EAST LONDON, South Africa, June 8, 2026/APO Group/ –One of the largest privately held conservation properties in the Eastern Cape has been put up for sale. Tyityaba Nature Reserve, a proclaimed reserve covering roughly 13,000 hectares on the Wild Coast, has been listed at an indicative R145 million (about USD 8.9 million), according to the selling agent, Bass Property Group (www.BassPropertyGroup.co.za).

Scale and setting

Size is the reserve’s most distinguishing feature. It holds about 26 kilometres of frontage along the Kei River and a perimeter of roughly 81 kilometres, taking in rolling bushveld, riverine thicket and the open vistas typical of the Wild Coast, a region known for its biodiversity and its remoteness. The varied terrain supports a mix of habitats, from valley grassland to dense thicket, that sustains the reserve’s wildlife through the seasons.

That remoteness is relative. King Phalo Airport in East London, which has direct flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town, is about an hour away by road, placing the reserve within comfortable reach of major centres while preserving the seclusion that defines the Wild Coast.

Wildlife

The reserve carries buffalo, giraffe, leopard, zebra, blue wildebeest, eland and impala, along with a wide range of birdlife. Populations of spiral-horned antelope, such as nyala, kudu and bushbuck, are prolific and well established. Tyityaba has a long record of regulated, quota-based wildlife use carried out within South Africa’s conservation framework, and its established game populations would allow a new owner to continue managed conservation operations without a lengthy restocking period.

Infrastructure

The main lodge has eight en-suite bedrooms and shared entertainment areas. The property also includes an abattoir and workshop, with several other farm dwellings spread across the holding that could house staff or be developed to accommodate guests. An airstrip on site would need upgrading before it could be used, though it raises the possibility of fly-in access alongside the road route from East London. Together, the existing buildings give a buyer a working base from which to operate or further develop the reserve.

How it can be bought

The land is made up of 26 portions across five titles. It can be bought as a single holding or, the agent says, divided among several owners as a development. That structure is part of what they expect will determine who comes forward.

“Tyityaba is a large landholding of a kind that rarely comes to the open market in South Africa,” said Hanlie Bassingthwaighte, a principal of Bass Property Group. “Its main strength is flexibility. It can work as a single-owner reserve or as the basis for a development shared among several owners.”

Price

The reserve is listed at an indicative R145 million (about USD 8.9 million). The agent attributes the figure to the property’s size, biodiversity and the range of ownership options it allows.

“Twenty-six kilometres of river frontage and 13,000 hectares of established habitat take generations to form and cannot be recreated,” said Joshua Bassingthwaighte, also a principal of the firm.

LUANDA, Angola, June 5, 2026/APO Group/ –The sixth edition of ANGOTIC – International Information and Communication Technologies Forum (www.ANGOTIC.ao) – will take place in Luanda at the Talatona Convention Centre on 11, 12 and 13 June 2026 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

Under the theme “On the Road to Digital Transformation”, a slogan that was neither randomly chosen nor defined by chance, the event seeks to highlight the achievements attained by the Angolan Government in recent years. These achievements are based on the strengthening, improvement and expansion of ICT infrastructure, including ANGOSAT-2 and the National Space Programme, the National Broadband Network Project, the expansion and reinforcement of fibre-optic networks, particularly the 2Africa submarine cable, the implementation of the INAMET modernisation programme, Digital Terrestrial Television, and more recently, the commissioning of the Government Data Centre and Cloud Platform.

These and other initiatives have facilitated and expanded access to telecommunications and information technology services for citizens, while encouraging operators to continuously develop solutions tailored to the needs of businesses and individuals.

ANGOTIC presents itself as an international platform for fostering and strengthening relationships, bringing together exhibitions of products and services based on the innovative capacity of operators, presentations and debates on current ICT-related topics and challenges. It also serves as a privileged venue for training and capacity-building initiatives, the launch of new products and services, the strengthening of relationships among operators through the signing of agreements and business meetings, as well as the promotion of Angolan culture.

At ANGOTIC, and in response to the needs identified by both the organisers and the market, participants will find, in addition to the activities already mentioned above, the Startup Zone and the Kids Zone, both of which will offer a vibrant daily programme of activities and experiences.

The Startup Zone, designed under an inclusive and integrated 360-degree concept, comprises the Entrepreneurship Support Centre, Investment Centre, Artificial Intelligence for Business Training Room, Digital Payments Hub, and a Hackathon focused on Artificial Intelligence and Space Technology.

At the Entrepreneurship Support Centre, companies and participants will be able to explore and experience all the stages involved in establishing a business, from the business idea itself to financing, feasibility studies, company registration through the One-Stop Business Registration Office (Guiché Único da Empresa), logo and branding development, INAPEM certification, and trademark and patent registration through IAPI.

Also within the Startup Zone, at the 360° Stage, all startups and companies participating in the event will have the opportunity to obtain INAPEM certification through the Entrepreneurship Support Centre, enabling them to benefit from advantages such as tax exemptions and eligibility to participate in public tenders.

At the Investment Centre, investment solutions for businesses, micro-enterprises and entrepreneurs will be available, as well as access to microcredit opportunities.

The Digital Payments Hub will facilitate partnerships with Pay4All for the integration of payment solutions through references, Multicaixa, Multicaixa Express and e-Kwanza into a single platform within 24 hours. The area will also feature the INAPEM business incubator (TWENDY).

The Kids Zone, a family-oriented space aimed at children, teenagers, young people, students, teachers, partners, companies and institutional visitors, among others, will feature the following key activities during this edition of ANGOTIC:

• Kids Tech Academy – electronics and programming for children;
• ITEL Creator Studio – podcasting, vector photography and digital content creation;
• Robotics Arena – robotics workshops, assembly and demonstrations;
• Future Careers Zone – immersive experiences focused on the professions of the future;
• Immersive Tech Lab – virtual and augmented reality experiences;
• STEM Simulation Lab – simulated science and technology experiments;
• E-Sports Learning Zone – educationally guided digital gaming activities;
• Electric Mobility Track – electric vehicles developed by students;
• ITEL Brand Store – institutional products and merchandise;
• Student Innovation Gallery – exhibition of 12 technological projects developed by ITEL students.

In Luanda, ANGOTIC 2026 is expected to attract more than 20,000 participants and visitors, including prominent international political figures, global ICT industry leaders, national and international exhibiting companies, startups from various provinces of Angola, approximately 100 national and international speakers, national and international media organisations—some of which will travel specifically to the Angolan capital for the event—as well as academics, researchers and technology enthusiasts.

According to the programme for this edition, the following have already been confirmed as of the date of this press release: 11 national and international companies as official sponsors of ANGOTIC, more than 300 startups—having already reached the maximum capacity allocated to them—approximately 200 exhibiting and non-exhibiting companies, and nearly 5,000 tickets already sold.

Regarding ticket sales, it is worth highlighting that, as in the 2025 edition, tickets are also available through the ANGOTIC website. The “Family Ticket” category allows up to three children accompanied by a guardian to access the ANGOTIC experience with a single ticket.