Connect with us
Anglostratits

Business

Reassuring Investor Confidence in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) Region

Published

2 years ago

on

CEMAC

CEMAC member countries offer a wealth of natural and mineral resource opportunities for global investors, and addressing regional trade and forex challenges will bolster private sector-led growth

Egalement disponible en Français

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 5, 2024/APO Group/ — 

In a bid to safeguard foreign exchange reserves in the region, the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) imposed stricter rules on currency transfers and payments in January 2022 – a move it has been unwilling to reverse despite opposition by energy stakeholders and leaders. Recent regulation significantly impacts dollar-dominated industries – such as the oil and gas sector -, and reform is imperative to regain foreign investor confidence in West African oil and gas.

The upcoming African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energy conference – scheduled for November 4-8 in Cape Town – will delve into the West African region’s vulnerability caused by foreign exchange regulations. Centered around facilitating investment in African oil and gas, the event unites regional energy leaders, financial institutions and foreign investors to discuss strategies for improving business environments; facilitating cross-border deals; and reassuring investor confidence.

AEW: Invest in African Energy is the platform of choice for project operators, financiers, technology providers and government, and has emerged as the official place to sign deals in African energy. Visit aecweek.com for more information about this exciting event.

E&P Remains Top of the Agenda

Member countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) – namely, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic (CAR), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo – have all implemented targets to increase hydrocarbon exploration and production through regional collaboration. Gabon aims to produce 220,000 barrel per day (bpd) in the short-term while Congo plans to increase oil production to 500,000 bpd within a year and double gas production within two-three years. Equatorial Guinea also plans to increase regional gas monetization, with agreements with Cameroon to develop the Etinde gas field already in place.

Recent E&P developments are critical for achieving these goals. In Gabon, independent oil and gas company Perenco has spud an appraisal well to assess the quantity of resources at the Hylia South West field. The asset is currently producing 6,000 bpd and the new appraisal well aims to determine its full potential. Independent oil and gas company Vaalco Energy extended the life of the Etame field in Gabon with the replacement of an aging FPSO with an FSO alongside platform upgrades. Now, the project will produce beyond 2030. Energy major TotalEnergies has extended its presence in Gabon by another 25 years, while signing a new contract for the Baudroie-Mérou Marine G5-143 permit, effective until 2047.

Forex has to be something that we are serious about and that is why the African Energy Chamber (AEC) is convening the Africa Energy Finance Summit at AEW

In Cameroon, Perenco has kicked-off a five-well drilling campaign at the Kita Eden field, located in the northern Rio del Rey basin. Discovered 40 years ago, the field has been equipped with a specially-designed shallow water barge. Energy major Chevron is developing the YoYo Block in Cameroon’s Douala Basin, with a bilateral treaty signed between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea in 2023 paving the way for the field’s joint development with the neighboring Yolanda field. The fields development aligns with Equatorial Guinea’s Gas Mega Hub (GMH) project – aimed at monetizing stranded gas resources across West Africa. Chevron signed a Heads of Agreement in 2023 to progress with the next phase of the GMH.

Meanwhile, Vaalco Energy is nearing FID for the 20 million-barrel Venus development in Equatorial Guinea’s Block P. Following the completion of the joint operating agreement, the company expects to progress with the FEED study, aiming for FID in Q3 or Q4 this year. In Congo, energy major Eni began feeding gas into the Tango LNG facility in December 2023, representing a milestone for the project. Tango LNG is expected to start production in 2024, only 12 months after reaching FID. Perenco also expanded its presence in the country in 2023, acquiring Eni’s participating interests in several permits.

Investment Hinges on Policy Reform

All of these developments demonstrate the potential of West African oil and gas. However, to ensure these finds translate into tangible project developments, CEMAC countries need to prioritize an enabling environment and attracting foreign investment through pro-business policies. CEMAC member countries hold some of the lowest positions in the World Bank’s latest Ease of Doing Business index (2020). Out of 190 countries, Cameroon is 167; Gabon is 168; Equatorial Guinea is 178; Congo is 180; Chad is 182 and CAR is 184. Ineffective fiscal policies are largely to blame as they make it difficult to invest, featuring high tax rates, weak Production Sharing Contracts, and delayed project approval timelines. Additionally, BEAC’s foreign exchange regulation makes it challenging for foreign currency accounts to be domiciled in the region, further impacting FDI.

“Forex has to be something that we are serious about and that is why the African Energy Chamber (AEC) is convening the Africa Energy Finance Summit at AEW, where we will unite governments from across the region to discuss issues relating to enabling environments. We have got to incentivize growth,” stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.

As foreign investment becomes more competitive than ever with FDI shifting towards fewer, capital-intensive projects, incentivizing investment becomes imperative. The judiciary has a role to play in this area, as it provides comfort and long-term security for operators in the region. The judiciary, through reviewing how systems approach labor, arbitration, disputes and how companies are treated, will essentially make it easy to invest. Meanwhile, a shift from resource nationalism to independent systems is expected to further reinstate investor confidence in CEMAC oil and gas, with transparency allowing countries to attract a broad investor base and lessen the volatility of international capital flows. Addressing these challenges, providing fiscal incentives for foreign companies and cutting red tape will not only facilitate cross-border deals but enable member countries to meet their E&P targets.

In addition to foreign exchange policies, local content laws have become restricted with the BEAC regulation, failing to incentivize growth and opportunity for local players. CEMAC countries have the chance to leverage local content to stimulate the development of new fields, attract new investments while making the market increasingly competitive. Policy reform will, therefore, not only attract foreign capital to the region but enabling the growth of domestic markets,

Conversations around improving the investment environment across the CEMAC region will be a key topic during this year’s AEW: Invest in African Energy conference in Cape Town. Under the theme, Energy Growth through an Enabling Environment, the event integrates the entire African energy value chain with the objective to increase investment and make energy poverty history by 2030. Join the conference today and be part of the conversation.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Events

China’s digital hub Hangzhou hosts conference on AI, OPC

Published

1 hour ago

on

June 30, 2026

By

OPC

HANGZHOU, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 June 2026 – The inaugural AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference was held from June 29 to 30 in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province. Centered on one-person company (OPC), a new form of smart economy in the AI era, the conference program comprised one opening ceremony and two parallel breakout sessions.

It gathered around 400 delegates from government departments, industry associations, financial institutions, AI enterprises and OPC startup operators across the country. Participants exchanged insights on AI innovation pathways and cross-industry integration strategies, injecting strong impetus into Hangzhou’s ambition to develop a national benchmark hub for AI+OPC entrepreneurship.

A series of key launches and milestone ceremonies took place during the opening segment. Official releases included the 2026 national OPC development observation report, Hangzhou’s 2026–2028 action plan and supporting policies to build a national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub, and a catalog of actionable AI+OPC application scenarios. Attendees also received an in-depth interpretation of the specifications for AI-enabled OPC community services and evaluation.

The ceremony featured multiple landmark initiatives: plaque awarding for Hangzhou’s priority AI+OPC incubation communities and dedicated observation sites, the official launch of the AI+OPC Community Alliance initiative, and a kickoff marking the official construction of the national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub.

The open forum session featured keynote speeches from distinguished industry and academic leaders. Speakers included Pan Yunhe, former executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Zhejiang University; Liang Gui, former executive vice governor of Jiangxi Province and ex-director of the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and Zou Ling, head of Hong Hub, Shangcheng District’s single-member unicorn startup acceleration community, who shared cutting-edge insights from varied perspectives.

A panel dialogue followed, bringing together representatives from Moshu OPC Community (Beijing E-Town), the School of Future Science and Engineering at Soochow University, Qingju Hub · Future Digital Intelligence Port (Shangcheng District), and Puhua Capital for in-depth industry exchanges.

Complementary concurrent events held throughout the conference included an OPC capital-industry matchmaking salon, a symposium on industry-education integration for AI-powered OPC sectors, and a national exchange forum for AI+OPC community practitioners.

OPC has emerged as a vibrant new engine driving economic vitality and underpinning high-quality development. Against the backdrop of a new development era, the inaugural Hangzhou AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference unites OPC innovators nationwide.

Drawing on the creative energy of millions of independent super-individual operators, the event delivers sustained digital momentum to fuel Hangzhou’s super-individual economy, while rolling out replicable local practices and actionable Hangzhou solutions to advance high-quality growth of smart economies nationwide.

 

Continue Reading

Business

Hainan FTP marks 6-month milestone of special customs operations, signs deals during Hong Kong visit

Published

8 hours ago

on

June 30, 2026

By

Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 June 2026 – As the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) marked the six-month milestone since the launch of its full special customs operations, a Hainan provincial delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to Hong Kong. During the visit, the delegation signed deepened cooperation agreements with several major local chambers of commerce and promoted the latest policies introduced since the island-wide special customs operations took effect.

According to data released by Hainan Province during the visit, Hainan’s foreign trade has surged since the launch of special customs operations. As of June 17, the province’s total goods imports and exports reached RMB 173.98 billion (approximately US$24 billion), up 54.6% year on year. Imports of zero-tariff goods hit RMB 2.645 billion, a 120% jump that generated tariff savings of RMB 440 million. A total of 172,100 new market entities were registered—a 61% increase—including 1,240 foreign-invested enterprises. Zero-tariff items now account for 74% of all tariff lines, benefiting more than 12,000 market entities.

During the Hong Kong visit, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Provincial Committee (CCPIT Hainan) signed separate deepened cooperation MOUs with the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Under the MOUs, the parties will establish a regular liaison mechanism for the periodic exchange of economic and trade information, and will promote collaboration in areas including professional services, green finance, the digital economy, supply chain management, and cultural tourism. Mutual enterprise service desks will be set up to provide consulting services regarding policies and projects. The parties will leverage their complementary strengths to help Chinese mainland enterprises access overseas markets via Hong Kong, while facilitating Hong Kong companies’ entry into the Chinese mainland through Hainan.

The delegation also held talks with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, exploring ways for British and American businesses to leverage Hainan’s value-added processing tariff exemptions and multifunctional free trade accounts to position themselves in regional supply chains and cross-border investment and financing. HSBC, De Beers, and other British firms are already active in Hainan, and the UK served as the Guest of Honor country at the 2025 China International Consumer Products Expo.

According to industry analysts, amid the shifting international trade landscape, Hainan is leveraging Hong Kong’s “super-connector” role to accelerate its integration with global capital and business networks, while simultaneously offering the Hong Kong business community a policy testing ground for entering the Chinese mainland market.

Continue Reading

Business

Africa’s Grid Constraints Come into Focus as Regional Markets Push Toward Integration

Published

4 days ago

on

June 26, 2026

By

Africa

Regional power pools are advancing and renewable pipelines are growing, but the regulatory and financial architecture needed to connect them remains the continent’s most critical infrastructure gap – an issue central to the Power Africa Today conference at AEW 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa’s electricity demand is projected to nearly double to 2,291 TWh by 2050, requiring an estimated $30 billion in transmission and grid infrastructure investment to unlock and integrate new generation capacity. Yet across the continent, grid systems are struggling to keep pace with rapidly expanding supply pipelines and rising demand.

In Nigeria, repeated nationwide grid collapses as recently as February 2026 underscore the fragility of aging transmission infrastructure. In East Africa, tower failures along the 428 km Loiyangalani-Suswa line temporarily stranded output from Lake Turkana Wind Power – Africa’s largest wind installation. Meanwhile, demand growth pressures are accelerating across North Africa, where electricity consumption is expected to rise by around 50% by 2035, driven by urbanization, desalination projects, and climate-related temperature increases.

Despite these constraints, generation investment continues to accelerate across Africa, particularly in renewables, gas-to-power and hybrid systems. However, without equivalent investment in transmission and interconnection, much of this new capacity risks being underutilized or stranded. This growing imbalance between generation and grid capacity is driving a sharper focus on system-wide planning and regional market design – issues that will be central to the newly launched Power Africa Today conference at African Energy Week 2026. The platform will bring together policymakers, utilities, investors and developers to explore how regional interconnection, cross-border trading frameworks and financing structures can better align generation growth with grid expansion.

Power Markets Experiment with Reform

Alongside infrastructure challenges, Africa’s electricity sector is undergoing gradual – but uneven – market reform. Most countries still operate vertically integrated systems dominated by state utilities, but a growing number are introducing competitive frameworks to attract private capital and improve efficiency.

Zimbabwe opened its electricity market to full private participation across generation, transmission and distribution in 2025, targeting $9 billion in new investment. South Africa is advancing one of the continent’s most ambitious grid expansion programs, with plans for 14,500 km of new transmission lines and 133,000 MVA of transformer capacity by 2034, alongside mechanisms designed to crowd in private financing. Kenya, meanwhile, has introduced open access regulations enabling independent power producers to wheel electricity directly to multiple off-takers, reshaping how generation assets interface with the grid.

Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future

Regional Integration Remains Fragmented

Efforts to connect Africa’s fragmented power systems are progressing, though at different speeds across regions. In Southern Africa, the World Bank’s RETRADE SAPP program, approved in 2025, is deploying $12 million to strengthen renewable integration and transmission capacity across 12 member states. In East Africa, the Ethiopia–Kenya–Tanzania Electricity Highway is now in trial operations at up to 2,000 MW, marking a significant step toward a more interconnected regional grid.

West Africa is also moving toward deeper integration, with permanent synchronization of the West Africa Power Pool expected in 2026. Analysts, including the African Finance Corporation, argue that such synchronization is critical to unlocking large-scale hydropower potential and industrial demand across the region. Longer term, full synchronization between the Eastern and Southern African power pools – targeted for the end of 2026 – could create one of the world’s largest cross-border electricity trading corridors.

Building Bankable Financial Architectures

While interconnection is advancing, infrastructure alone is not enough to create investable electricity markets. Investors consistently cite the lack of standardized offtake structures, creditworthy counterparties, and cross-border payment guarantees as key barriers to scaling capital deployment.

New models are emerging to address these constraints. Africa GreenCo, operating across Zambia, Namibia and South Africa, is helping to aggregate independent power producers under a single creditworthy intermediary, standardizing power purchase agreements and reducing counterparty risk. At a broader level, AUDA-NEPAD estimates that Africa requires around $30 billion in additional investment to complete priority transmission corridors and establish three fully interconnected regional trading blocs by 2030.

“Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “The question at Africa Energy Week is not whether integration is possible – the evidence is already there. The question is which regulatory frameworks and financial structures will get projects to financial close, and which markets will be ready when capital is looking to move.”

The Power Africa Today conference will run alongside AEW 2026, taking place October 12–16 in Cape Town, and will focus on the regulatory, financial and infrastructural architecture needed to build interconnected electricity markets capable of attracting institutional capital and delivering reliable, cross-border power at scale.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

Continue Reading

Trending