JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, February 16, 2026/APO Group/ –Across many Western countries, anti-energy activists attack the very oil and gas industry that provides tax revenue to build schools, pave roads and fund universities. Unreasonable limits on oil and natural gas activity do not just target companies – they ultimately harm societies, weaken economies and destroy jobs. Africa cannot afford to follow that path. At the African Energy Chamber (AEC) (http://EnergyChamber.org), we have always believed we must remain organized to defend this industry and fight back when necessary.

 

The Chamber has personally invested significant effort in this fight because supporting the oil and gas industry is essential to Africa’s development and economic sovereignty. At the AEC, we reject the idea that governments should pick energy winners and losers instead of allowing free‑market principles to work. By rallying continued investment into Africa, we defend the same market foundations that built many of today’s strongest global economies. That is why regulatory clarity, efficient permitting and consistent enforcement are essential to attracting both domestic and foreign capital – work the AEC advances every day.

Africa’s Energy Must Deliver for Africans

For many Africans, skepticism about oil and gas has long centered on one question: where are the jobs and opportunities? This is why we remain unapologetic advocates of local content. Expecting the industry to create jobs for Africans is not radical – it is right.

To be clear, the industry has made meaningful progress. It has trained professionals, developed talent and produced African entrepreneurs who are now acquiring assets across the continent. The leadership of companies such as Seplat, Renaissance Energy, Oando, Etu Energias, First E&P, ND Western and numerous service firms reflects careers built inside major IOCs and global service companies. From Angola and Mozambique to Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania and Senegal, few industries have created comparable pathways for African leadership. In many cases, this progress required governments to push firmly for African inclusion – something regulators such as the NUPRC, ANPG, Ghana Petroleum Commission and authorities in Namibia, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and South Africa must never forget.

Inclusion Is Not Optional

Yet serious concerns remain. Policies or practices that exclude Black professionals from employment opportunities contradict the very principles of growth, fairness and partnership the industry claims to uphold. Frontier Energy Network’s hiring practices – widely understood across the industry to exclude Black professionals – are wrong. Full stop. This is not who our industry claims to be, and it is not compatible with partnership in Africa. Frontier’s leadership, including Daniel Davidson, has remained stubborn on this issue, and we are prepared to take this fight to the end. An organization that earns the lion’s share of its revenue from Africans cannot expect to benefit from African markets, governments and capital while denying fair employment to Africans.

This moment calls for our industry to show moral conviction. Africans are watching. No organization seeking partnership, investment or credibility in Africa can ignore inclusion or dismiss legitimate concerns about discrimination. In 2026, we should not still be confronting barriers rooted in the past. If the Africa Energies Summit wants African support, it must be ready to do the right thing by hiring Black professionals. When Daniel Davidson refuses to hire Black professionals and actively locks them out, the industry feels it – it is like a one‑eyed quarterback seeing only half the field.

The Industry Must Choose

We are therefore considering a targeted, lawful and selective boycott – yes, exactly that – against institutions that refuse to uphold inclusive hiring. Quite frankly, companies that still treat Black professionals as second‑class participants in this industry must face consequences. Inclusion drives growth, and when this industry grows, everybody wins. It is simply good business.

Service companies, investors, conference organizers and partners all share responsibility. One cannot seek licenses, approvals, and government goodwill while tolerating exclusionary behavior. Companies such as TGS – and others participating in platforms perceived by many Black professionals as unwelcoming – must recognize their influence and act accordingly. As Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” Companies must pick a side. You cannot promise governments local hiring while endorsing exclusion.

African ministers and regulators who attend the Africa Energies Summit cannot claim to value local content while aligning with institutions that refuse to hire Black professionals. The days when Black professionals are merely spectators in Africa’s oil and gas development are over. Our industry must remain vigilant. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past or give anti‑oil extremists an opportunity to tell African youth, “We told you so.”

Ignoring local content risks undermining the future of Africa’s oil and gas industry. The Chamber takes this position not lightly, but from decades of advocacy, criticism endured and unwavering belief in the sector’s importance to the continent. Listening to Black professionals who feel excluded is not optional – it is necessary. Many may come for me because of this stance, but honesty demands that I speak for the Black men and women who have been unfairly treated by Daniel Davidson and the Africa Energies Summit.

In the coming weeks, The Chamber will engage African officials and industry leaders to seek clear commitments to inclusive hiring and equal opportunity. Where progress is absent, we will exercise our lawful right to protest. Oil and gas professionals are good people, and this industry remains vital to ending energy poverty and strengthening global energy security. God bless the oil and gas industry – and yes, Drill Baby Drill.

We cannot allow division to weaken our shared mission. The Chamber has consistently been a model of pragmatic leadership, especially when facing distractions such as those posed by Frontier Energy Network and the Africa Energies Summit. Africa’s energy future must be built on investment, opportunity and inclusion for all. We shall overcome.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 13, 2026/APO Group/ –Nearly 600 million people across Africa still lack access to electricity, with electrification progress barely keeping pace with population growth and leaving the continent far from universal access targets. Achieving full access will require electricity-access investment to scale toward around $15 billion annually, according to the IEA, yet tracked financing commitments remain below $2.5 billion per year, underscoring a profound capital shortfall.

This mismatch – vast, guaranteed demand paired with chronic under-investment – is precisely what creates durable commercial opportunity. Energy demand across Africa is projected to rise sharply through 2030, driven by urbanization, industrialization, electrification and emerging high-consumption sectors such as data centers. Sub-Saharan Africa contains the majority of the global population without electricity, while the continent hosts 20% of the world’s population but receives only about 2% of global clean-energy investment.

In investment terms, this reflects demand certainty combined with supply scarcity – a dynamic that historically underpins strong long-term project economics. Reliable power fuels industrial growth, digital infrastructure and sustained revenue expansion, linking electrification directly to bankable demand. Closing the supply gap is therefore not just a social imperative, but a continent-wide revenue opportunity for investors.

This commercial logic is already reshaping global portfolio strategy. Major oil companies facing reserve pressure and slowing discoveries are increasingly turning toward frontier regions capable of delivering material new volumes, with Africa at the center of this shift. Industry analysis in 2026 suggests some producers could face production declines of hundreds of thousands of barrels per day within the next decade without major discoveries or acquisitions – intensifying the search for scalable new basins.

Developments progressing through 2025–2026 demonstrate how structural demand is translating into commercially viable assets. Mozambique’s $20 billion LNG project, advancing toward production later this decade, is anchored by tens of trillions of cubic feet of recoverable gas and supported by one of the largest financing packages ever assembled for an African energy development – demonstrating how global gas demand, domestic industrialization and long-term state revenue can align within a single project.

Meanwhile, analysis indicates that developing the continent’s gas resources could play a decisive role in closing the electricity access gap for hundreds of millions of people, while contributing only marginally to global emissions – strengthening the investment rationale even within a transition-constrained financing environment.

“Energy poverty is not just a challenge – it is Africa’s greatest investment opportunity. What we are witnessing today is a historic convergence of demand, resources and political will. The companies and investors that choose to partner with Africa now will not only generate long-term returns, but help power industries, create jobs and define the next era of global energy,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

This commercial reality will take center stage at African Energy Week 2026 in Cape Town, where policymakers, operators and financiers will focus on translating structural demand into bankable upstream, LNG, gas-to-power and renewable energy projects. Making energy poverty history will require unprecedented capital deployment – but the investment case is already clear. Vast resources, accelerating demand and a growing pipeline of projects position Africa’s energy gap as one of the defining commercial opportunities of the energy transition era.

PARIS, France, February 13, 2026/APO Group/ –The Republic of Congo marked a major milestone earlier this week with first exports from Phase 2 of its Congo LNG project – amplifying investor interest just ahead of Hydrocarbons Minister Bruno Jean‑Richard Itoua’s engagement at the Invest in African Energy (IAE) Forum in Paris, scheduled for April 22–23, 2026. Operated by Eni, the second phase began exporting from the new Nguya FLNG facility, lifting the country’s liquefaction capacity to 3 million tons per annum and delivering its first cargo in early 2026 following commissioning ahead of schedule.

Phase 2’s start‑up, achieved roughly 35 months after construction began, adds capacity alongside the earlier Tango FLNG unit, reinforcing Congo’s emerging role as a competitive LNG exporter in Africa. The expanded infrastructure draws on gas from the offshore Nené and Litchendjili fields under the Marine XII license, giving the country a stronger foothold in global gas markets at a time when buyers – particularly in Europe – seek diversified supply sources amid a shifting energy landscape.

The timing of Phase 2’s export start-up dovetails with growing international interest in Congo’s broader energy agenda: TotalEnergies recently secured the Nzombo exploration permit with a one-well drilling program, while Perenco is redeveloping its mature Kombi‑Likalala‑Libondo II offshore field with a new platform to extend production and gas recovery.

Minister Itoua, who has been instrumental in advancing upstream, midstream and gas monetization policy in the country, is expected to outline investment opportunities across gas, LNG, marginal fields and exploration at the upcoming forum – providing investors with direct access to Congo’s evolving energy landscape.

Beyond LNG, the Ministry of Hydrocarbons has advanced regulatory reform – including a new gas code nearing adoption that streamlines fiscal terms and clarifies rules for investors – alongside international cooperation to stimulate investment. Past IAE Forum engagements have produced key agreements, such as the 2023 pact with Technip Energies to enhance onshore and offshore capacity and collaborate on decarbonization and energy transition, highlighting Congo’s proactive approach to industry partnerships.

At IAE 2026, investors and policymakers will have the opportunity to engage directly with Minister Itoua and other senior officials on these developments, gaining first‑hand insight into how Congo is balancing gas monetization with broader energy sector growth and unlocking investment opportunities.

Congo’s trajectory – from a mature oil producer to a rapidly evolving LNG exporter – reflects a broader shift in African energy markets toward integrated, export‑oriented gas strategies. By linking robust policy engagement with ambitious infrastructure execution, Congo exemplifies how resource-rich African states can compete for global investment while contributing meaningfully to energy security and economic growth. As Minister Itoua prepares to take the stage in Paris, the Phase 2 LNG milestone serves as concrete evidence of both progress and opportunity for investors prepared to engage with the continent’s expanding energy frontier.