Working alongside Minister of Hydrocarbons Stev Simplice Onanga, Kiesse will play a central role in translating the government’s upstream ambitions into execution. His appointment brings together the Ministry’s strategic vision with decades of technical, commercial and institutional experience, strengthening the government’s ability to work closely with operators, investors and the SNPC to accelerate project delivery and unlock new opportunities across the sector.

Kiesse has outlined clear strategic agenda centered on protecting national interests while improving the competitiveness of the Congolese upstream sector. His priorities include strengthening government oversight of exploration and production activities, tightening project monitoring and strengthening the auditing of petroleum development costs submitted by operators. He also pledged to maximize the state’s returns from upstream projects through stronger regulatory oversight. Kiesse emphasized promoting local content by expanding opportunities for Congolese companies and skilled professionals throughout the oil and gas value chain. He also identified the continued development of the SNPC as a priority, with the aim of building a stronger and more competitive national oil company.

These priorities come at a pivotal time for Congo’s upstream sector as the country pursues one of Africa’s most ambitious upstream expansion programs. The government has established a production target of 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the coming years, supported by new offshore discoveries, brownfield redevelopment programs, legislative reforms and increased investment in natural gas infrastructure. Achieving this objective will require close collaboration between government institutions and international operators while ensuring projects are delivered efficiently and generate maximum value for the Congolese economy.

With a professional journey that has provided experience across every level of Congo’s upstream sector, Kiesse is well positioned to support these efforts, having built a career that spans engineering, project development, government relations and commercial strategy. He spent more than a decade with TotalEnergies, progressing from Field Operations Engineer to Lead Process Engineer at the company’s Paris headquarters before returning to Congo to lead process studies, manage deepwater development projects and oversee joint ventures and government relations. In these roles, he worked closely with major partners including SNPC, Eni, Chevron and Woodside Energy while supervising production sharing contracts, joint venture negotiations and regulatory engagement.

Kiesse later joined Perenco Congo as a Director of Joint Ventures and Government Relations, where he managed strategic partnerships and negotiations with government authorities before becoming Director of Business development and Institutional Relations at AMMAT Global Resources. Across these positions, he developed extensive experience working with both international operators and national institutions, giving him a comprehensive understanding of the commercial, technical and regulatory dynamics shaping Congo’s petroleum industry.

An electrical engineer trained at the Ecole National Supérieure Polytechnique in Brazzaville, he also holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Management from the Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli and an MBA From DGC Congo.

His appointment comes as investment activity continues to accelerate across the country. TotalEnergies is advancing a $500–$600 million drilling campaign following the Moho G discovery, while development progresses under the $23 billion Bango Kayo, Holmoni and Cayo agreement. Independent operators, including Perenco, Trident Energy and PetroNor, continue to expand production through new infrastructure and brownfield optimization, supporting the government’s long-term production objectives.

A major step toward strengthening upstream governance, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) welcomes this appointment as a core, strategic milestone in reinforcing the country’s position as one of Africa’s leading oil and gas investment destinations.

“We at the African Energy Chamber are hopeful that Franc Mouzabakani Kiesse’s appointment marks the beginning of an even closer partnership between government and industry,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, AEC. “Congo has no shortage of resources or investment opportunities – the priority now is execution. With Minister Onanga setting the strategic direction and experience leaders like Kiesse driving implementation, the country is well-positioned to unlock its next phase of upstream growth.”

The Chamber believes Kiesse’s combination of technical expertise, private sector experience and government relations will strengthen the implementation of Congo’s upstream strategy. By supporting Minister Onanga’s agenda, advancing local content, fostering closer cooperation between government and industry, and maintaining an attractive investment environment, his leadership is expected to play an important role making Congo an even more attractive destination for energy investment.

The launch, one of the principal outcomes of the 2026 African Economic Conference (AEC), comes as African countries face mounting geopolitical tensions, global trade fragmentation, climate shocks, rising debt pressures, and a rapidly evolving international financial and development architecture.

Hosted by the African Development Bank Group in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the three-day conference brought together ministers, central bank officials, chief economists, academics, development practitioners, private-sector leaders and researchers from across Africa and beyond.

The event, held under the theme “Strengthening Africa’s Geopolitical Agency and Trade Resilience in a Multipolar World,” concluded with more than 4,000 participants connected virtually over the three days, reflecting growing interest in Africa’s search for stronger, home-grown policy responses to a rapidly changing global economy.

Speaking on behalf of African Development Bank Group President Dr Sidi Ould Tah, Senior Vice-President Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade described the launch of the ACE-Network as a landmark achievement that would strengthen Africa’s capacity to develop practical, evidence-based policy solutions.

She noted that the broad participation and engagement of stakeholders across diverse sectors and institutions demonstrate the timeliness, relevance and importance of this year’s theme for Africa’s future. She urged members of the new network to translate research into policies and actions that improve the lives of Africans.

“This is a big responsibility on your shoulders, and we expect to see clear results in the form of very effective decisions and, therefore, actions that really move the needle for the men and women of this beautiful continent of ours,” Akin-Olugbade stressed.

Responding to a changing global economy

The establishment of the ACE-Network reflects growing recognition that African countries need stronger coordination among their leading economic thinkers as policymakers navigate increasingly interconnected global crises.

The network aims to fill that gap by creating an informal, invitation-only community of chief economists and senior policy advisers to exchange evidence, coordinate research, identify emerging risks, and jointly develop policy recommendations for African governments.

Members will include chief economists from African development finance institutions and multilateral organisations, chief economic advisers to African presidents and prime ministers, deputy governors of central banks responsible for economic policy, heads of leading think tanks, deans of economics faculties, and senior private-sector economists.

Rather than establishing another formal institution, the network will operate as a collaborative platform, meeting annually alongside the African Economic Conference and holding quarterly virtual sessions and rapid-response meetings during major global or regional economic shocks.

Strengthening Africa’s knowledge sovereignty

Presenting the network’s strategic vision, African Development Bank Group Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, Prof Kevin Urama, said Africa must strengthen its knowledge systems if it is to shape the emerging global financial and economic order.

He argued that Africa has only a limited window to influence reforms to the international financial architecture and that stronger coordination among African economists would help governments make better-informed decisions amid unprecedented uncertainty.

Among the network’s priorities are strengthening Africa’s knowledge sovereignty, increasing investment in research and innovation, improving policy coordination, reducing duplication across institutions, enhancing early-warning systems for emerging risks, and ensuring that economic analysis better reflects African realities.

Urama also called for greater investment in what he described as “soft infrastructure”—research, data systems and knowledge institutions—to complement the continent’s growing investment in transport, energy and other physical infrastructure.

Bridging research and policymaking

UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa Chief Economist Dr Raymond Gilpin described the network as “a unified powerhouse of African intellectuals” capable of narrowing the gap between economic research and public policy.

He said the initiative would help African countries mobilise domestic capital, strengthen implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), develop innovative responses to climate and fiscal challenges, and convert Africa’s demographic growth into a driver of long-term prosperity.

“The Africa Chief Economists Network will be an engine room that designs creative solutions necessary for Africa to attain the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063,” Gilpin said.

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist Dr Hanan Morsy said increasingly interconnected crises demanded stronger collective economic intelligence across Africa.

“No country, regardless of its size or resources, can effectively navigate this environment alone,” she said, adding that the network’s success would ultimately be measured by whether it improves policymaking, strengthens resilience and contributes to faster, more inclusive growth across the continent.

Representing the OECD, Ida McDonnell, head of the Development Research Unit, noted that current global challenges required integrated approaches to trade, debt, climate finance, industrial policy and investment, rather than treating each issue separately.

She added that the new ACE-Network would help reduce duplication while strengthening African contributions to global policy debates.

Over three days in the Ivorian capital, delegates examined how Africa can strengthen its geopolitical influence while improving trade resilience, mobilising domestic resources, expanding regional value chains, accelerating industrialisation and attracting greater investment in an increasingly multipolar world.

Sessions also explored the future of development finance, public investment efficiency, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, climate resilience, regional integration and institutional reforms needed to position Africa as a stronger actor in global economic governance.

Participants agreed that Africa possesses major comparative advantages—including the world’s youngest population, abundant renewable energy resources, critical minerals, expanding digital markets and the world’s largest free trade area under the AfCFTA—but that stronger institutions, better policy coordination and higher-quality economic analysis will be essential to convert those assets into sustained growth.

The operation aims to strengthen the capacity and operational performance of the Kenitra–Marrakech railway corridor, which carries a significant share of the country’s passenger and freight traffic. It will do so by extending the high-speed rail line (HSR) and upgrading the existing railway infrastructure along this strategic corridor.

By improving travel flow between the Kingdom’s major economic and urban hubs, the project will promote more sustainable mobility and enhance territorial connectivity.

Beyond its positive impact on mobility, the project will support the transition to more sustainable and environmentally friendly transport modes and deliver significant economic benefits by reducing travel times and logistics costs.

“By combining the extension of the high-speed rail line with the modernisation of existing infrastructure, this operation will help accommodate growing passenger and freight traffic, facilitate trade flows, and reduce travel times,” said Achraf Tarsim, Head of the African Development Bank Group’s Country Office in Morocco. “In the long term, it will strengthen Morocco’s logistics competitiveness and reinforce its role as a strategic hub linking Europe and Africa.”

The project includes the acquisition of equipment to modernise railway infrastructure along the Kenitra–Marrakech corridor and around the Casablanca rail hub. This includes the supply of new rails and track components for conventional rail lines and the high-speed network, to increase corridor capacity and sustainably improve operational performance.

PADIF also incorporates a project management support component covering project ownership, engineering supervision, and the monitoring and evaluation of results and impacts, ensuring effective implementation.

By contributing to the development of resilient, sustainable, and high-value-added infrastructure, the operation is fully aligned with the African Development Bank Group’s Four Cardinal Points (https://apo-opa.co/4vWv2Mb) and the institution’s 2024–2029 Country Strategy Paper for Morocco. It also supports Morocco’s New Development Model and the Rail 2040 Plan, which aims to modernise the national railway network.

Since 1978, the African Development Bank Group has mobilised nearly €15 billion to finance more than 150 projects and programmes in Morocco. Its interventions (https://apo-opa.co/4wd803P) span strategic sectors, including transport, social protection, water and sanitation, energy, agriculture, governance, and the financial sector.