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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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2 years ago

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AOG

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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Enlit Africa seeks contributions that move the conversation from strategy to execution: ensuring a Future Fit Africa

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3 days ago

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September 25, 2026

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Africa

Share your expertise with Africa’s power, energy and water community, connect with decision makers from across the value chain and contribute to the conversations shaping the continent’s next generation of infrastructure and investment

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, September 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Speaker submissions are open for Enlit Africa, created by VUKA Group (www.WeAreVuka.com), as it returns to the CTICC, Cape Town from 11–13 May 2027.

Do you have a project, lesson, strategy or innovation that Africa’s energy sector should hear about?

 




  

We invite utilities, project owners, developers, IPPs, commercial and industrial energy users, municipalities, policymakers, regulators, financiers, researchers and industry practitioners to submit abstracts sharing practical experience, case studies, research, projects and lessons from across Africa’s changing energy and water sectors.

What are we looking for?

We particularly encourage non-vendor speakers to submit contributions across:

  1. Enlit Africa Main Stage – From Strategy to Execution
    Policy, market reform, investment, leadership and the decisions required to turn Africa’s energy ambitions into implementation.
  2. Generation
    New capacity, generation technologies, energy security, operating performance and Africa’s evolving energy mix.
  3. Transmission & Distribution
    Grid expansion, modernisation, open access, system operation, cross-border interconnection, digitalisation and infrastructure investment.
  4. Municipal Forum:Municipal management, with an emphasis on electricity and water – with a strong emphasis on service delivery.
  5. Power Hub:Technical advancements in power generation, transmission, distribution and more. Technical presentations encouraged.
  6. Water Hub:Technical insights into water management and solutions.
  7. Water Security Hub: Strategy, finance, management and technology application for water security.
  8. Project & Investment Hub: Project developments, country roundtables, project briefings, finance, and innovative financing models (including M300).
  9. Renewable Energy & Storage:Covering both technical and strategic applications of renewables and storage.

What makes a strong submission?

We want to hear about what is happening on the ground.

Tell us about:

  • A project being implemented or developed
  • A challenge your organisation has solved – or is still trying to solve
  • Lessons from implementation
  • New research or industry findings
  • Innovative financing or commercial models
  • Technologies being deployed in real operating environments
  • Policy or regulatory changes and what they mean in practice
  • Approaches that could be replicated elsewhere in Africa

Preference will be given to submissions that provide practical insights, measurable outcomes and lessons that the wider industry can apply.

Why present at Enlit Africa?

Africa does not need another conversation about what should happen. Help us explore how we make it happen and how we ensure Africa is future fit.

Share your expertise with Africa’s power, energy and water community, connect with decision makers from across the value chain and contribute to the conversations shaping the continent’s next generation of infrastructure and investment.

Submission details

Abstract length: 300–500 words
Submission deadline: 29 January 2027
Speaker feedback: 7 December 2026 – 5 February 2027

Visit the Enlit Africa website to submit your speaker abstract: https://apo-opa.co/4d2TTq2

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of VUKA Group.

 




 

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CEM Africa Awards 2026 set to recognise Africa’s leading Customer Experience (CX) talent and innovation

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3 days ago

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September 25, 2026

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CEM Africa Awards

The 2025 awards attracted more than 80 entries and 31 finalists, culminating in eight award winners

The calibre of organisations and individuals recognised through the CEM Africa Awards demonstrates just how much extraordinary CX work is being done across the continent

 




 
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, September 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Customer experience professionals, teams and organisations across Africa have just days remaining to enter the 2026 CEM Africa Awards, with free applications closing on 30 September 2026.

 

Taking place on 10 November 2026 at the NH Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, the Customer Experience Africa Awards form part of the CEM Africa platform and recognise the individuals, teams, technologies and initiatives raising the standard of customer experience across the continent.

For organisations considering whether to enter, the company they could be keeping provides a compelling indication of the calibre of the awards.

A growing roll call of African CX leaders

The 2025 awards attracted more than 80 entries and 31 finalists, culminating in eight award winners. Finalists represented organisations spanning financial services, technology, telecommunications, retail, insurance, public services and social impact.

Among them were Absa, Capitec Bank, Santam, Telesure Investment Holdings, Equity Bank, Takealot.com, NTT DATA, Frogfoot, Telviva, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, the University of Pretoria and South Africa’s Department of Social Development.

The 2025 winners included Serisha Iyer of Absa Corporate and Investment Banking, named Rising Star in CX; Alma Angela Olela of Jubilee Health Insurance, named CX Leader of the Year; and Franco Cotumaccio of Shadow Global, winner of Breaking Barriers in CX.

Corporate winners included Telesure Investment Holdings for Best Overall CX Solution, Krisp for Best Use of AI, Telviva for Best Enterprise Contact Centre Platform, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator for Best Customer Experience Team of the Year and the University of Pretoria for Best Citizen Experience Initiative.

That follows a 2024 edition in which winners included NCBA Bank, MultiChoice, Digital Solutions Group, Absa Bank and Telviva, alongside individual CX leaders from across the continent.

More than a trophy

For entrants, recognition through the CEM Africa Awards puts their work in front of a wider African CX community and an independent judging panel drawn from across the industry.

The 2026 judging panel includes global CX specialist Ian Golding; Andrew (Dré) Enebeli, Head of CX & Engagement at Access Bank; Dr Oliver Museka, President and Founder of IRDM College Eswatini; Jonathan Daniels, Managing Director of CX Centric; Joven Pillay, Partner and Head of Customer Consulting at KPMG; and Qaalfa Dibeehi, Managing Partner at Human2Outcome.

This year’s awards recognise excellence across four broad pillars – People, Innovation, Transformation and Government – covering categories including CX Leader of the Year, Rising Star in CX, Breaking Barriers in CX, Best Overall CX Solution, Best Use of AI, Best Enterprise Contact Centre Platform, Best Customer Experience Team of the Year, Best Digital Transformation in Public Services and Best Citizen Experience Initiative.

“The calibre of organisations and individuals recognised through the CEM Africa Awards demonstrates just how much extraordinary CX work is being done across the continent. These awards give that work a platform. Whether it is a major transformation programme, an innovative use of technology or an individual changing how their organisation thinks about the customer, we want to make sure Africa’s best work is being seen and recognised.”

  • Briteny Price, Event Manager and CEM Africa Awards Director

Final opportunity to enter

Applications for the 2026 CEM Africa Awards are free and remain open until 30 September 2026. Finalists will be announced in October, ahead of the awards ceremony on 10 November at the NH Hotel, Sandton.

Organisations, teams and individuals working to improve customer and citizen experience across Africa are encouraged to submit their entries before the deadline.

Apply for the CEM Africa Awards 2026 by 30 September 2026

Submit your application (https://apo-opa.co/4hdcimx)

Explore the CEM Africa Awards

Visit the CEM Africa Awards website (https://apo-opa.co/4iNXzzM)

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of VUKA Group.

 




  

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Emirates to bring the A350 to Nairobi, introducing next-generation cabin experiences

Published

3 days ago

on

September 25, 2026

By

Emirates

The introduction of the A350 also marks the first time Emirates’ highly acclaimed Premium Economy cabin will be available to customers flying to and from Kenya, complementing the airline’s enhanced Business and Economy offerings

NAIROBI, Kenya, September 25, 2026/APO Group/ —

  • From 25 October, Nairobi becomes the 32nd destination to be served by the Emirates A350
  • Latest-generation aircraft introduces Emirates’ acclaimed Premium Economy cabin to Kenya for the first time, along with enhanced Business and Economy Class cabins
  • Deployment reinforces Emirates’ continued investment in Kenya and commitment to delivering an exceptional customer experience across its Africa network

 




  

Emirates (www.Emirates.com), the world’s largest international airline, will soon serve Nairobi with its newest aircraft type, the Airbus A350 (https://apo-opa.co/47hy1nv). From 25 October 2026, the A350 will operate on EK717 and EK718, bringing Emirates’ latest-generation cabin experience to customers travelling between Dubai and Nairobi. The Emirates A350 is defined by spacious, bright cabins, enhanced technology, connectivity, and the airline’s signature hospitality across all three cabins.

 

The introduction of the A350 also marks the first time Emirates’ highly acclaimed Premium Economy cabin will be available to customers flying to and from Kenya, complementing the airline’s enhanced Business and Economy offerings.

 

Christophe Leloup, Emirates Country Manager in Kenya said, “The arrival of the A350 in Nairobi marks an exciting new chapter for Emirates in Kenya. We’re delighted to bring our latest aircraft and onboard experience to our customers in market, with more comfort, choice and thoughtful touches in every cabin. Combined with our growing flight schedule, the A350 gives customers travelling on the Dubai-Nairobi route something new to discover, while building on the experience they know and love from Emirates.”

 

 

What passengers can expect from the A350

The newest aircraft type to join Emirates’ all widebody fleet, the A350 accommodates 298 passengers in three spacious cabins – Business, Premium Economy and Economy. The bright and airy cabins have been thoughtfully designed to provide more space and comfort in every cabin, whilst cutting-edge technology and enhanced entertainment options elevate every journey.

 

Making its debut in Kenya, Emirates’ Premium Economy cabin offers elevated comfort, comparable to a Business Class experience on many airlines. The cabin is spacious with leather reclining seats that feature a generous pitch, adjustable headrests and more legroom. Customers can enjoy in-seat charging points, a wood-finished side cocktail table, a 13.3-inch TV screen, a generously sized pillow and blanket, complimentary amenity kits on select flights – including the Dubai-Nairobi route – and a globally exclusive sparkling wine, Chandon Vintage Brut 2017.

We’re delighted to bring our latest aircraft and onboard experience to our customers in market, with more comfort, choice and thoughtful touches in every cabin

 

Business Class is configured in a 1-2-1 layout ensuring every passenger has direct aisle access and a spacious, private environment for both work and relaxation. The fully lie-flat seat is wrapped in soft cream leather and features a personal minibar and wireless charging for comfort and convenience. At the back of the cabin is a snack display area allowing passengers to help themselves to refreshments throughout the flight.

 

Economy Class features an all new, airy colour palette of sky blue, bronze and cream, complemented by lighter-toned wood finishings. Each seat features the airline’s upgraded ice inflight entertainment system on a 13.3inch 4K adjustable touchscreen, while generous seat pitch and leather headrests provide support, comfort and extra legroom.

 

 

Continuing to raise the bar in Kenya

The deployment of the A350 follows a series of enhancements to the Emirates customer proposition in Kenya, including the introduction of the third daily flight between Dubai and Nairobi in July. With 21 flights per week, customers have greater flexibility and connections between Kenya and key markets across Europe and the US, via Dubai.

 

Nairobi is also home to Africa’s first Emirates World (https://apo-opa.co/4yeI34C) store, which opened in 2024, offering customers a more immersive way to discover Emirates’ products, while offering more convenience and personalised service.

 

Earlier this year, Emirates introduced further flexibility for customers in Kenya through a partnership with Cellulant, launching a split-payment solution (https://apo-opa.co/4xLYG6R) that allows travellers to combine multiple payment methods across 24-hour instalments when purchasing airfares.

Tickets can be booked now on Emirates.com, the Emirates App, or via both online and offline travel agents as well as Emirates World Store (https://apo-opa.co/46Kglkc) in Nairobi. Emirates continues to offer flexible booking policies for added peace of mind while travelling. Every ticket booked after 10th August 2026 comes with free unlimited dates changes to Dubai and one complimentary date change to anywhere else in the world, in addition to significantly reduced refund fees across all cabins and fare types, allowing passengers to adjust their travel plans with minimal penalties.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Emirates Group.

 




 

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