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Reform has Benefited Angola’s Oil and Gas Industry – and there Should be More of it (By NJ Ayuk)

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Despite the progress made so far, Angola’s government has yet to proceed with plans to sell up to 30% of Sonangol

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, August 20, 2024/APO Group/ — 

By NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber (https://EnergyChamber.org).

Chevron is already a major player in Angola’s oil sector, where it holds a market share of 26%. However, the U.S.-based major recently took a step that promises to expand its footprint further. Specifically, it announced in mid-June that it had signed contracts for two license areas off the coast of Angola – Blocks 49 and 50, both located in an ultra-deepwater section of the Lower Congo Basin.

Just a few years ago, this deal wouldn’t have been possible.

First, the other party to the contracts — the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) — didn’t even come into existence until 2021. That’s when the Angolan government, led by President João Lourenço, created the agency to serve as the state oil and gas concessionaire — that is, the government body responsible for negotiating petroleum agreements, a role previously assigned to the national oil company (NOC) Sonangol. Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum has made it a point that Angola must not choose between economic growth and environmental protection. He crafted solutions to energy transition, reforming the energy sector, while simultaneously increasing market certainties and creating opportunities. For the energy companies, certainty translates into confidence, and confidence leads to more investment, more jobs and more robust growth for Angola.

Second, the type of contracts Chevron signed for Blocks 49 and 50 wasn’t available in Angola until 2020, when they were launched as part of the Angolan plan to reform and incentive investment in its oil and gas industry, an initiative that dates to 2017.

These risk service contracts (RSC), as they’re known, are designed specifically for high-risk projects that are anticipated to have trouble securing investment commitments through the usual channels — that is, competitive bidding processes and the signing of production-sharing agreements (PSA).

Under RSCs, investors provide exploration and development services in exchange for guaranteed payments. This is in contrast to PSAs, under which investors are entitled to claim a share of production, assuming that exploration leads to commercial development.

In other words, the Angolan government’s reform program made Chevron’s deal for Blocks 49 and 50 possible. (It has also made other deals possible, including the RSCs signed in 2020 by ExxonMobil, another U.S.-based giant.)

A New Frontier

Chevron has not yet made many details of its new contracts public. It has not, for instance, revealed the value of the deals.

However, the company certainly seems to view these projects as significant. As William Lacobie, the managing director of the company’s Southern Africa Strategic Business Unit, pointed out last month, Blocks 49 and 50 represent a new frontier for Chevron subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. Ltd (CABGOC). Thus far, he noted, CABGOC has focused on Blocks 0 and 14, both located in well-explored sections of the Angolan offshore zone. Blocks 49 and 50 will be “CABGOC’s first operated assets outside of our existing Cabinda concession area,” he said.

But Chevron will not be the only party to benefit. Angola also stands to gain from the new contracts, which will add value to the national economy. This value will come partly in the form of investment and partly in access to the sophisticated new technologies needed to explore (and possibly develop) the ultra-deepwater blocks.

A Sign of Reform

The benefits aren’t limited to money and technology, however. The RSCs for Blocks 49 and 50 also show that the reforms driven by Diamantino Pedro Azevedo are opening up new opportunities for the oil and gas industry.

Let me explain.

Angola has made a number of other changes since 2017 in a bid to encourage IOCs to do business there

The RSCs are attractive to Chevron because they give the company an opportunity to earn money even though Blocks 49 and 50 lie within the ultra-deepwater section of the offshore zone. These areas have yet to be fully explored, and they lack the extensive production infrastructure that supports the U.S. major’s upstream operations at Blocks 0 and 14. In other words, the new contracts allow the company to enter a frontier province and expand its footprint in Angola without incurring too much risk.

At the same time, the deals benefit the country, as they will bring Chevron’s expertise, equipment, and technology to these ultra-deepwater sites, hopefully as a prelude to further investment in the area by other international oil companies (IOCs). This is not something Angola could have accomplished in other ways, as Sonangol does not have the resources needed to explore and develop the blocks on its own, and a competitive bidding process might have failed to attract other investors.

The same is true of ExxonMobil’s deals for Blocks 30, 44, and 45. Without RSCs, these sites, all of which are located within another frontier province known as the Namibe Basin, might never have been able to secure investment commitments.

Other Changes for The Better

The availability of RSCs aside, Angola has made a number of other changes since 2017 in a bid to encourage IOCs to do business there.

For example, it has formulated plans for partial privatization of Sonangol. The NOC had previously functioned more as an arm of the government than as an oil company, serving as the main point of contact for all potential partners, enforcing industry laws and regulations, and operating multiple non-core subsidiaries at the behest of officials in Luanda. Now, though, it has hived off many of its daughter companies and is preparing for an initial public offering on local and international exchanges.

Meanwhile, Angolan authorities have also established a permanent offer scheme that allows ANPG to accelerate the pace of signing contracts by negotiating directly with IOCs on certain projects rather than carrying out competitive bidding rounds. Additionally, it has revised the tax code to offer additional incentives to investors in the petroleum sector and has reformed local content policies in ways that are designed to help IOCs work with local contractors.

Moreover, Angola has taken steps to assist the oil and gas sector less directly. For example, it now permits citizens of 98 countries to visit Angola without a visa, up from 62 previously. This measure was ostensibly designed to facilitate tourism, but it also promises to benefit IOCs since some of the new entries on the list are countries that host the world’s biggest oil and gas operators, such as the U.S., the UK, South Korea, Japan, and India.

Altogether, these measures seem to have helped Angola weather the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 and other events that disrupted global energy markets in subsequent years. They have also allowed the country to attract investments for new projects. These include deals for construction of the Cabinda and Lobito refineries and for the expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Italy by 1.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year.

More Reform Needed

Even so, Angola has more work to do. Reform must continue.

Despite the progress made so far, Angola’s government has yet to proceed with plans to sell up to 30% of Sonangol. It has set a deadline of 2026 for the company’s IPO, but it has also said it will only move forward after taking certain steps to establish the NOC as a vertically integrated oil and gas company that has a substantial upstream footprint and more capacity to meet domestic fuel demand, as the AEC discussed in greater detail in July 2023.

Moving forward, the government will need to ensure that these steps do not falter.

If Luanda fails to take these steps and enact further reforms, it risks losing some of the ground it has gained. It will have a harder time staving off a long-term decline in crude oil output, boosting natural gas production, attracting funding for refining and petrochemical projects that can supply the local market with cleaner fuels, and laying the groundwork for its eventual transition to renewable energy.

Therefore, it must work to make the country more competitive, more business-friendly, and more transparent. It should clamp down on corruption and improve oversight of its sovereign wealth fund, which handles the state’s earnings from oil and gas sales. It ought to team up with investors to look for ways to maximize local content, and it should consider additional tax breaks for IOCs.

Moreover, it should establish a domestic value chain for the country’s natural gas production by encouraging consumption of liquid petroleum gas (LPG). This would allow many more Angolans to gain access to clean-burning fuels and phase out the use of biofuels that contribute to deforestation such as charcoal and wood.

It’s true that Angola’s oil and gas sector has made progress since 2017, thanks to the reforms enacted by the Lourenço administration. But the reform process should not stop here, with the signing of Chevron’s new RSCs. It should move forward so that the country has a better chance to aim for a brighter future.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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CEM Africa 2026: Africa’s CX Leaders Meet in Cape Town

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August 14, 2026

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Final programme brings together senior CX leaders, practical workshops, technology showcases and high-value industry conversations from 18–20 August 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 14, 2026/APO Group/ –CEM Africa 2026 will return to the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town from 18–20 August, bringing together senior customer experience, marketing, digital, customer service, technology and transformation leaders for the 14th edition of Africa’s leading customer experience summit.

With organisations across the continent under growing pressure to improve customer outcomes while navigating AI adoption, automation, rising expectations, fragmented journeys and commercial scrutiny, the 2026 programme has been built around a central question: how can businesses use technology to improve customer experience at scale without losing trust, relevance or the human connection?

Across three days, CEM Africa will combine strategic conference discussions, hands-on workshops, technology demonstrations, an exhibition, networking activations and peer-to-peer exchange, giving delegates the opportunity to move from big-picture industry questions to practical frameworks they can apply inside their organisations.

A speaker line-up rooted in real CX leadership

The 2026 speaker faculty brings together leaders working directly across customer experience, marketing, digital transformation, customer service, commerce, technology and organisational change.

Among those joining CEM Africa 2026 are:

  • Bruce Whitfield, business journalist and best-selling author
  • Khensani Nobanda, Group Chief Marketing Officer, Nedbank
  • Francois Retief, Head of Customer Experience, FNB
  • Martin Urrutia, global toy industry leader
  • Marnitz Van Heerden, Head of Customer Experience, Discovery Limited
  • Grace Brown, Head of Customer Experience and Client Services, JSE
  • Khwaṱhelani Tshikovhi, Head: Santam Experience and Client Care, Santam Insurance
  • Shaun Edmeston, Director of Customer Experience, Absa Bank Mauritius
  • Job Thomas, Chief Customer Officer, WooCommerce
  • Richie Sobayeni, Group Head of Customer Experience Design, Equity Group Holdings
  • Julia Ahlfeldt, Customer Experience Strategist and Business Advisor
  • Rashid Toefy, Deputy Director-General, Department of Economic Development and Tourism
  • Katie Stabler, Founder and Director, CULTIVATE Customer Experience by Design
  • Charlie Stewart, CEO, Rogerwilco
  • Omowunmi Akingbohungbe, Executive Director, WIMBIZ
  • Wavi Mungala, Board Director, Institute of CX – Kenya

The wider faculty spans financial services, retail, technology, insurance, e-commerce, public sector, consulting and customer operations, reflecting the increasingly cross-functional nature of customer experience.

From AI experimentation to measurable outcomes

Artificial intelligence will be one of the defining conversations at CEM Africa 2026, but the programme moves beyond broad speculation about AI to focus on where organisations are seeing – or still struggling to achieve – real operational and commercial value.

Day One will examine how African organisations can move from AI pilots to production, including governance, data readiness, agent co-pilots, voice AI, speech analytics, conversational AI and AI-driven personalisation.

The agenda also tackles the questions surrounding responsible adoption. Sessions will examine AI governance and ethics, privacy, POPIA, customer consent and the challenge of automating at scale without damaging trust.

A dedicated discussion, “Will AI Make Your Brand More Trustworthy?”, will explore whether increased automation strengthens customer confidence or risks undermining it, before the day closes its content programme with the audience-led town hall “Will Humans Still Matter in a World of AI-Driven Customer Experience?”

Data, insight and the business case for CX

For leaders under pressure to demonstrate the commercial return on customer experience investment, CEM Africa will put measurement firmly on the agenda.

Workshops will address customer data quality, real-time insight, first-party data strategy, predictive analytics and Voice of Customer, alongside practical sessions on building an end-to-end CX scorecard, customer lifetime value and mapping journey costs.

Delegates will also be able to explore how to prove CX ROI to executive teams, connecting customer experience activity to revenue uplift, churn reduction, operational efficiency and cost-to-serve.

The emphasis throughout is on turning customer insight into decisions and measurable business outcomes rather than collecting more data without action.

Designing customer journeys that work in African markets

The programme will also address the practical realities of customer engagement across diverse African markets.

Topics include omnichannel journey design, mobile-first experiences, WhatsApp as a service channel, self-service, proactive CX and reducing friction across high-volume journeys such as onboarding, billing, claims and fulfilment.

Sessions will examine how organisations can create accessible experiences for customers with different levels of digital literacy, connectivity and channel preference, while maintaining consistency between physical, digital and human-assisted interactions.

African market realities also feature in discussions on sentiment analysis, conversational AI, language, code-switching and customer behaviour.

The people behind customer experience

Technology is only one side of the CX equation.

CEM Africa 2026 will look closely at employee experience, organisational culture and the changing capabilities required of customer-facing teams.

Sessions will cover customer-centric culture, employee resilience, burnout, hybrid CX teams, human-centred service, AI upskilling, cross-functional collaboration and change management.

The programme will also explore the relationship between employee experience and customer outcomes, recognising that organisations cannot sustainably improve CX without equipping and engaging the people responsible for delivering it.

What the three days will look like

Tuesday, 18 August – Day Zero

CEM Africa begins with an afternoon dedicated to registration, community engagement and relationship-building ahead of the main conference programme.

Delegates can expect networking activities and activations, including tastings, community conversations, the CEM Networking Padel Tournament and sponsored welcome drinks.

The format is designed to give speakers, delegates, partners and industry leaders an opportunity to begin making connections before the formal summit gets underway.

Wednesday, 19 August – Day One

Day One opens with a strong focus on trust, relevance and measurable customer experience outcomes.

The main stage begins with Deshnie Govender’s opening keynote, “The Culture-Led Customer: The Emerging Markets Playbook for Building Trust, Relevance and Loyalty”, followed by sessions examining the future of AI-powered customer experience, journey-led CX orchestration and business journalist and best-selling author Bruce Whitfield’s keynote, “The Trust Advantage”, exploring how trust can reduce friction and unlock better business results.

From late morning, the programme moves into a series of parallel workshops and panels built around some of the most pressing issues facing CX leaders today.

The first sessions explore building trust in the AI era, with discussions on whether AI investments are delivering measurable business outcomes, the changing role of the CX leader, enterprise AI agents, frictionless customer journeys and lessons from CEM Africa Awards-winning teams.

The afternoon broadens the conversation into customer intelligence, Voice of Customer, Agentic AI, digital trust and human reassurance, alongside a dedicated discussion on how African contact centres and BPO operators are positioning themselves to compete globally.

Later sessions place the human experience firmly back at the centre of CX. Leaders will explore employee wellbeing, emotionally intelligent journey design, empathy in an AI-enabled environment, customer-centric culture and how to lead CX teams through continuous change.

The final workshop block tackles the commercial realities of CX, including moving from NPS to P&L, improving checkout conversion, connecting customer, employee and digital experience, driving loyalty through hyper-personalised research and the realities of stepping into senior CX leadership.

Day One closes with Matchmaking and Happy Hour, followed by the CEM Engage Party, creating further opportunities for delegates, speakers, partners and solution providers to continue conversations and build meaningful industry relationships.

Thursday, 20 August – Day Two

Day Two turns the focus towards human impact, business value and the future direction of customer experience in Africa.

The main stage opens with Zahirah Variawa’s motivational keynote, “The Moments People Remember: Why the Experiences We Create Matter More Than We Think”, followed by Rashid Toefy on designing better citizen experiences and building trust through public services.

A QuestionPro and Metropolitan fireside chat explores the use of AI within Voice of Customer programmes, while Katie Stabler and Debi Potgieter’s “What the Fluff?” challenges the industry to examine whether CX initiatives have genuine substance when put under pressure.

The morning also features the CEM 2026 Advisory Board Panel, bringing together leaders from across Africa to examine the future of CX through the lenses of trust, technology, business value and human connection, before Martin Urrutia, Head of Global Retail Experience at The LEGO Group, takes to the stage for the keynote “Experience Is the Brand.”

The afternoon workshop programme moves from strategy into execution.

Sessions will explore AI-powered WhatsApp journeys, voice AI in the South African market, the point at which brand promises break down, self-improving human and AI service models and how CX leaders can prove ROI in language that resonates in the boardroom.

The final workshop block looks further ahead. Delegates can explore CX designed for measurable ROI, the Future African Customer 2030, organisational trust, scalable experience design, the risks of poor AI, emerging CX research and Human First experience design.

The programme then closes with WiN CX Africa: Women Shaping Excellence in Every Experience, bringing together female leaders to explore how cultures of safety, trust and inclusion shape stronger customer and employee experiences.

Across both days, the programme reflects the central theme of CEM Africa 2026: Trust, Technology and the Human Future of CX in Africa, with a clear emphasis on moving beyond theory towards customer experience strategies that create stronger relationships, better operational outcomes and measurable business value.

More than a conference programme

Alongside the conference and workshops, attendees will have access to the CEM Africa exhibition, Expo Spotlight Stages, technology demonstrations, networking functions and opportunities to engage directly with CX solution providers and peers facing similar transformation challenges.

For senior leaders, the value lies not simply in hearing what is changing, but in comparing approaches with peers, interrogating technology choices, finding practical solutions and building relationships across Africa’s customer experience community.

CEM Africa’s broader 2026 positioning – “Excellence in Every Experience: Shaping the Future of Customer Engagement Across Africa” – reflects an industry that is increasingly being asked to connect customer experience directly to business growth, loyalty, trust and resilience.

With the event now days away, CEM Africa 2026 offers organisations a timely opportunity to understand where customer experience is heading next — and what leaders need to do now to stay relevant.

CEM Africa 2026 takes place from 18–20 August 2026 at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.

For the latest programme, speaker line-up and delegate availability, visit https://apo-opa.co/4zgt0bJ.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of VUKA Group.

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KoçSistem Leads Türkiye’s Information Technology (IT) System Integrator for the Eighth Consecutive Year as KoçDigital Wins Top Artificial Intelligence (AI) Award

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August 14, 2026

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KoçSistem

KoçSistem ranked first in ICT 500’s main system integrator category for an eighth consecutive year, while KoçSistem and KoçDigital recorded 10 category wins as KoçSistem expands its MENA operations through Dubai and Riyadh

ISTANBUL, Türkiye, August 9, 2026/APO Group/ –KoçSistem (www.KocSistem.com.tr), a Türkiye-based technology company, ranked first in the main Information Technology Systems Integrator and Business Partner category of the 27th ICT 500, the country’s most comprehensive ICT (information and communication technology) sector research.

 

The company announced that the eighth consecutive category lead, as well as 10 combined category wins for KoçSistem and KoçDigital, support its MENA growth through offices in Dubai and Riyadh.

“Securing this leadership for an eighth consecutive year in ICT 500 is a strong reference for our leadership position in Türkiye,” said Mehmet Ali Akarca, General Manager of KoçSistem. “It also supports our objective of growing in international markets. We are pleased to take the technology expertise and operational capabilities we developed over many years in Türkiye to the MENA region.”

Ten category wins across two companies

KoçSistem’s eight first-place results covered the main system integrator category and areas including consulting, cloud, hosting management, cybersecurity, managed services and data backup and storage hardware.

With over 80 years of experience, we aim to create long-term value for the region’s digital ecosystem

KoçDigital added two first-place results in data warehousing and business intelligence software, and artificial intelligence under the “Contribution to Türkiye’s Economy” category.

ICT 500 ranks Türkiye’s largest ICT companies

ICT 500 is BThaber’s annual ranking of Türkiye’s 500 largest ICT companies by revenue, with additional tables covering operating categories. The latest edition assessed 2025 data and marked the study’s 27th year.

The research reported that the combined 2025 revenue of the 500 ranked companies reached TRY 1.6 trillion, up 40 per cent from 2024.

MENA growth through Dubai and Riyadh

KoçSistem opened offices in Dubai and Riyadh in 2024 and continues to develop its MENA business in AI, cloud, cybersecurity, data analytics and managed services.

The offices extend a regional initiative outlined at GITEX Dubai 2024, when KoçSistem described Dubai as a base for developing customer and partner relationships across the Gulf and wider MENA markets.

“With over 80 years of experience, we aim to create long-term value for the region’s digital ecosystem,” Akarca concluded.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of KoçSistem.

 

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Venezuela Global Investment Forum to Showcase Major Investment Opportunities at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026

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2 days ago

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August 14, 2026

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African Energy Chamber

The forum will strengthen investment ties between Venezuela and Africa while advancing South-South energy cooperation

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 7, 2026/APO Group/ –The Venezuela Global Investment Forum will take place during African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town from October 12 -16, bringing together senior Venezuelan government officials, national oil company leadership, international energy executives, financiers and commodity traders to showcase one of the world’s most significant energy market reopening while creating a direct pathway for global investment into Venezuela’s rapidly evolving hydrocarbons sector.

 

Organized as a flagship feature of AEW 2026, the Venezuela Global Investment Forum underscores the growing momentum behind the country’s energy sector reforms and its renewed engagement with international investors. More than a traditional conference session, the Forum will connect investors directly with bankable upstream, natural gas, infrastructure and power opportunities by showcasing Venezuelan projects alongside some of Africa’s largest energy developments in the AEW Deal Room.

Following sweeping reforms to the country’s Organic Hydrocarbons Law earlier this year, Venezuela has introduced one of its most comprehensive investment overhauls in decades. The reforms expand opportunities for private operators, establish new production participation contracts, introduce more competitive fiscal terms and strengthen international arbitration mechanisms aimed at reducing investment risk and restoring confidence among international capital providers.

Venezuela is opening a new chapter for its energy industry

“Venezuela is opening a new chapter for its energy industry. The reforms underway are creating a more competitive and attractive investment environment and the Venezuela Global Investment Forum at AEW 2026 provides the ideal platform for international investors to engage directly with decision-makers and explore the opportunities emerging across the country’s oil, gas, infrastructure and power sectors,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber.

These reforms are already reshaping the investment landscape. The government is targeting crude production of 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2026 after output recovered to approximately 1.2 million bpd during the first half of the year. Beyond oil production, Venezuela is advancing a broader strategy centered on natural gas monetization, offshore development, infrastructure rehabilitation and power sector modernization, creating opportunities across the entire energy value chain.

Throughout the Forum, delegates will hear directly from ministers, senior government officials, national oil company executives, international operators, development finance institutions, commodity traders and technical leaders responsible for implementing Venezuela’s new investment framework. Discussions will focus on expanding upstream investment, accelerating natural gas development, modernizing infrastructure and creating long-term partnerships that support Venezuela’s renewed role in global energy markets.

The forum also reinforces the strategic relationship between AEW 2026 and Venezuela Energy Week, which will take place in Caracas from February 22-25, 2027. Together, the two events form a coordinated international investment campaign that begins by introducing global investors to Venezuela’s reformed investment environment in Cape Town before continuing in Caracas, where commercial negotiations, technical engagement and project execution will move toward final investment decisions.

As global energy markets continue to prioritize supply security, infrastructure investment and new sources of production growth, Venezuela is positioning itself to re-establish its role as a major international energy supplier. Through the Venezuela Global Investment Forum at AEW 2026, investors will gain an unparalleled opportunity to engage with the country’s new investment framework, evaluate commercially attractive projects and build partnerships that support Venezuela’s return to global energy markets while strengthening cooperation between Africa and Latin America.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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