JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 13, 2026/APO Group/ –Energy supermajor Chevron has appointed Emmanuelle Garinet as Director of Exploration for the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa, bringing one of the upstream industry’s most experience exploration geophysicists into a strategic leadership role overseeing discovery efforts across two of the world’s most important hydrocarbon regions.

 

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) – as the voice of the African energy industry – welcomes the appointment, with Garinet’s move to Chevron serving as a positive signal for Africa’s exploration sector. For the Chamber, placing an executive with decades of African exploration experience at the helm of a major international oil company’s discovery strategy could help unlock new investment across frontier basins, accelerate geological understanding and strengthen collaboration between operators and host governments.

 

Expanding Exploration Across Sub-Saharan Africa

Chevron’s African portfolio is entering a new phase of exploration-led growth as international energy companies continue to pursue new discoveries across frontier basins and established producing hubs.

 

Namibia has emerged as one of the most closely watched exploration regions in the world following a series of major deepwater discoveries in the Orange Basin. Chevron is currently evaluating prospects in the Walvis Basin, where the company plans to drill a new exploration well in PEL 82 between 2026 and 2027. The campaign follows earlier drilling in the Orange Basin, reflecting the company’s continued interest in Namibia’s rapidly evolving offshore petroleum system.

 

In West Africa, Chevron is expanding its deepwater presence in Nigeria after acquiring a 40% stake from TotalEnergies in offshore licenses PPL 2000 and PPL 2001. The company is expected to deploy a drilling rig in late 2026 targeting resources near the Agbami field as part of a broader deepwater growth strategy.

 

Angola remains a cornerstone of Chevron’s African portfolio where, in December 2025, the company achieved first oil at the South N’dola platform in Block 0, producing approximately 25,000 barrels of oil per day using existing infrastructure. Associated gas from the project is routed to the Angola LNG plant, supporting the country’s gas monetization strategy while reducing flaring.

 

For the AEC, these developments highlight the continued importance of exploration in unlocking new energy resources across the continent while supporting regional economic growth and energy security.

 

Americas Portfolio Provides Additional Growth

Beyond Africa, Chevron maintains a large upstream portfolio across the Americas.

 

In the U.S. the company continues expanding production in the Permian Basin, where output is projected to reach around one million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2026. Deepwater developments in the Gulf of Mexico also remains a key component of Chevron’s portfolio, contributing to long-term production growth.

 

In South America, Chevron’s position in Guyana’s prolific Stabroek Block – obtained through the company’s acquisition of Hess Corporation – places it within one of the world’s fastest-growing offshore petroleum provinces. Meanwhile, unconventional development in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation continues to support production growth in the region.

 

A Career Built on Global Exploration

Garinet’s career reflects more than three decades of experience in exploration geology, subsurface interpretation and international upstream leadership.

 

She began her career as a geophysicist, working on seismic analysis and subsurface evaluation before moving into management roles overseeing large exploration portfolios. Over time, she held senior leadership positions across multiple continents, including roles managing exploration programs in Nigeria, Gabon and South America.

 

Her tenure at TotalEnergies also spanned the transformation of the company from Elf Aquitaine to ToalFinaElf and ultimately TotalEnergies.

 

One of her most notable achievements was leading the exploration team behind the Venus discovery offshore Namibia – one of the largest deepwater oil finds in recent years and a project expected to move toward a final investment decision in 2026.

 

“Exploration leadership with deep technical expertise and real experience in Africa’s basins is critical as the continent seeks to unlock new resources and attract global investment,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, AEC. “Emmanuelle Garinet brings decades of geological insight and international exploration leadership. Her appointment at Chevron sends a strong signal about the continued importance of African energy development.”

 

Garinet has also been a prominent advocate for African energy development and has frequently spoken at the annual African Energy Week conference in Cape Town, where she has highlighted the role of advanced seismic data, frontier exploration and efficient permitting systems in unlocking new opportunities across the continent.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 13, 2026/APO Group/ –Across power and water, there is no shortage of announcements, memoranda and pipeline lists. Yet investors, DFIs and lenders repeatedly describe the same frustration: a large share of project opportunities arrive too early, too thin or too ambiguously structured to move through real due diligence. Developers, in turn, often face a different reality: they are trying to progress projects inside complex permitting environments, uncertain offtake frameworks, misaligned stakeholder expectations and a grid that may not be ready when the project is.

The gap is not ambition. The gap is bankability and decision velocity.

Where deals stall in practice

Most projects do not fail because the technology is unproven. They stall because the fundamentals are not yet ready for capital. In practical terms, the friction points tend to cluster around:

• Revenue certainty: offtake, tariff realism, creditworthiness and enforcement
• Grid access: connection capacity, timelines and the transmission build-out required to make delivery feasible
• Permitting and land: predictable sequencing, timeframes and stakeholder alignment
• Risk allocation: clarity on what sits with the developer, the offtaker, the state and the financiers
• Project preparation maturity: data room readiness, governance, delivery capability and credible timelines
• Country and currency risk: the real cost of hedging, indexation and macro volatility

 

Africa does not lack projects. It lacks projects that are investable at speed.

 

What changes when you engineer the conversation

This is the logic behind the Project & Investment Network (P&IN) (https://apo-opa.co/4lo8Sha) at Enlit Africa: to create structured, decision-oriented engagements that help shorten the path from early interest to investable next steps.

In practice, that means designing a deal-making environment around mechanisms rather than marketing. The aim is not to create a “conference meeting calendar”. The aim is to reduce friction and increase the quality of conversations, by ensuring that the right people are in the room with the right level of information and the right intent.

 

P&IN is built around:

• Structured matchmaking based on investor mandates and project characteristics, not general networking – the business breakfast on 19th May will provide insights into small structural or programmatic shifts and how they can exponentially change focus, delivery and outcomes. Join Bruce Whitfield, award-winning business journalist and best-selling author as we explore the business landscape for power infrastructure.
• Targeted project briefings that focus on mitigating delivery constraints and risk allocation and realistic readiness milestones
• Curated discussions with decision-makers from utilities, government and finance to pressure-test what is required to move projects forward
• A practical emphasis on what happens next: defining the immediate milestones that shift a project towards bankability

Why this matters now

Africa’s infrastructure constraints are now delivery constraints. Grid expansion, reliability and industrial growth cannot wait for perfect conditions. Yet capital will only move at scale when opportunities are structured, risks are priced and delivery capability is evident.

 

P&IN exists to help close that gap by turning project intent into investable conversations and investable conversations into disciplined next steps.

 

Call to action:

For developers: Apply to present your project (https://apo-opa.co/40tikq6) to investors and DFIs through P&IN
For investors and DFIs: Request the investor pack and participation criteria
For utility and public sector leaders: Participate in decision-focused dialogues (https://apo-opa.co/4deEeEY) on delivery constraints and investment readiness

 

Register: https://apo-opa.co/4rzRWWx

• In 2024, the Coca-Cola system in South Africa contributed R51.2 billion in value-added economic impact across its value chain.
• The Coca-Cola system and its value chain supported over 87,000 direct and indirect jobs in South Africa in sectors including retail, agriculture, manufacturing, transport and services.
• The Coca-Cola system purchased R25.6 billion worth of goods and services from suppliers in South Africa in 2024, strengthening the country’s industries and communities.

 

The Coca-Cola (www.Coca-ColaCompany.com) system in South Africa today announced the results of a comprehensive socio-economic impact study, conducted by global consulting firm Steward Redqueen.

Download Infographic: https://apo-opa.co/4bpsbn2

“This new independent study highlights the scale of the Coca-Cola system’s contribution to South Africa’s economy, employment, and communities,” said Luis Felipe Avellar, president of the Africa operating unit of The Coca‑Cola Company. He spoke during a media briefing hosted by the Honourable Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition, Mr. Parks Tau, ahead of the 2026 South Africa Investment Conference, where the Coca-Cola system will participate as a sponsor.

The study reveals that the Coca-Cola system in South Africa – comprising Coca-Cola and its authorized bottlers – alongside a broad network of local suppliers, distributors, and retailers, contributed R51.2 billion in value-added economic activity in 2024.

Through its value chain, the Coca-Cola system supported over 87,000 jobs through suppliers, partners, and customers. This means that for every direct job created by the system, 10 more jobs were supported across South Africa’s economy.

“Our business is interconnected with local communities, we hire locally, produce locally, distribute locally and, where possible, source locally, helping to build a stronger, more integrated economy in South Africa,” Avellar said.

Charl Goncalves, Managing Director of Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages, emphasized the system’s focus on partnerships: “We remain committed to creating opportunity for our people, our partners, and the communities we serve.”

The study also highlights the Coca-Cola system’s strong local integration, with R25.6 billion worth of goods and services sourced from suppliers in South Africa in 2024. This local procurement supports industries as diverse as sugar production, packaging, transportation, and marketing, reinforcing the Coca-Cola system’s role as a partner for growth in South Africa’s economic development.

“South Africa remains one of our most strategic markets in Africa—the beginning of a legacy that dates back to Coca-Cola’s first entry on the continent in 1928. These findings reaffirm the Coca-Cola system’s role as a key driver of shared value and sustainable growth within the South African economy,” said Sunil Gupta, CEO, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.

The Coca-Cola system has strengthened its footprint in South Africa through sustained investment and innovation, including the launch of a new bottling line at CCBSA’s manufacturing facility in Midrand.  This investment highlights the system’s commitment to investing, producing, and distributing locally, while contributing to South Africa’s social and economic development.

The Coca-Cola system’s contribution extends beyond economic impact. South Africa is one of the beneficiaries of the Africa Water Stewardship Initiative (https://apo-opa.co/4bFqSiD), a nearly $25 million investment through 2030 to help address critical water-related challenges in local communities in 20 African countries.

The study conducted by Steward Redqueen measured the direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts of the Coca-Cola system in South Africa, combining company operational data with trusted third-party economic sources. The analysis demonstrates how Coca-Cola’s local operations ripple across the economy – from farmers growing sugarcane to retailers selling beverages – creating jobs, generating income, and building opportunities.