The African oil and gas industry is at a pivotal juncture in light of the growing dynamics that have been reshaping Africa’s energy landscape. The inaugural EGYPES 2024 Africa Dialogue Conference plays a crucial role in unleashing the continent’s potential and reevaluating energy strategies.

The dialogue provided a platform for eye-opening and evidence-based discussions on complex energy transition issues among key African stakeholders, including top government officials, financial institutions, economists and energy leaders. Such face-to-face meetings also help lay foundations for constructive dialogue to address both challenges and opportunities.

The global drive towards sustainability and green transition is undeniable. However, this is more challenging in Africa whose population is expected to double by 2050, and consequently the continent’s energy demand is expected to remarkably increase in the next two decades. Also, we have to bear in mind that fossil fuels will maintain a prominent role in the region’s energy mix as African economies are heavily dependent on oil and gas export revenues.

In this regard, Keynote Speaker Omar Farouq Ibrahim, Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPO), touched upon the importance of fossil fuels in Africa’s just energy transition.

Ibrahim highlighted key figures related to the continent as Africa has about 13 million square kilometers or 20% of the landmass. In terms of energy resources, Africa has over 155 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves and more are still being found. Africa is also blessed with 30% of the world’s mineral resources.

“Yet, Africa is the continent with the largest proportion of people living with no access to energy, having over 640 million people without access to electricity, and over 900 million without access to any form of modern energy for cooking. It’s important to note that for a vast majority of Africans who live without access to energy, it is simply because they cannot afford the cost of it.”

Meanwhile, the APPO Official stressed that energy transitions are not new to mankind, and that each successive transition provided better energy than the previous one.

“The quest for energy security is the driving force for today’s rush for energy transition. Individually, no one African country can successfully surmount the imminent energy challenges posed to it by energy transition. However, working collectively will help us have all the details to surmount all the challenges,” he remarked.

In a related context, the African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy & Digitalization, Amani Abou-Zeid, reviewed Africa’s Climate Strategies

In the wake of COP28, suggesting a forward-looking perspective on the continent’s strategies and actions to combat climate change.

It is worth mentioning that Africa is the most vulnerable to the severe impacts of climate change though it is the least contributor to the global emissions.

In her speech, Abou-Zeid stressed the paramount importance of making best use of all available technologies besides investing in human capital to make sure the continent has the human capital that is capable of implementing, maintaining and operating.

“Access to reliable and affordable and sustainable energy forever is our aim and purpose and this is what we do. Africa’s share of renewables in Africa’s energy mix is about 40%. So, we are actually the leaders,” she stressed.

The African Union official also reiterated that it is shocking that a continent that has been endowed with all kinds of natural sources necessarily for energy and beyond, is also the poorest when it comes to energy access.

The African Dialogue also shed light on pivotal issues like Navigating Africa’s Energy Dilemma in terms of striking a balance between alleviating energy poverty and driving economic development while addressing global calls to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In this regard, the speakers, including H.E. Antonio Oburu Ondo, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons in Equatorial Guinea emphasised that this transition needs to consider the unique circumstances that the continent faces in terms of ensuring energy security and alleviating energy poverty.

More importantly, the African Dialogue opened a fruitful discussion over innovative solutions and strategies to overcome Africa’s natural gas infrastructure challenges.  For his part, Ahmed Khalifa, Deputy CEO, Planning & Projects at the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, highlighted Egypt’s success story in striking a balance between meeting local demands and also promoting exports.

On local level, the Egyptian official referred to the Decent Life initiative that seeks to provide citizens with natural gas. This also goes in parallel with Egypt’s ambition to become an energy hub, bearing in mind the remarkable progress in this domain. Similarly, Mamadou Beye General Manager, Corporate Affairs at Chevron International Exploration and Production, expressed his impression with Egypt’s expertise both on local and regional levels.

The role of private sector cannot be overlooked and therefore, Adly Kafafy, Vice President Africa & New Ventures at TAQA Arabia, stressed that the real support of the governments will help enhance the role of private sector in a way that ensures the benefits of all parties.

Among the key messages shared by experts in the African Dialogue is that the gradual shift from fossil fuels to clean energy sources is the adequate approach for the continent. This also goes in tandem with the strategies of the African governments that already showed real ambition and commitment to joining hands to combat climate change.

Despite all these challenges, the green transition offers Africa a unique opportunity to make the best use of its enormous energy potential, especially renewable energy and natural gas. According to official figures, Africa possesses 8% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves.

The African Dialogue also delved deep in how Africa can leverage its rich energy resources to drive the continent towards a more prosperous and sustainable energy future.

The speakers also shared their visions on how African countries can benefit economically from their natural gas resources, taking into account that Africa’s gas has the ability to meet growing domestic energy needs and also function as a natural gas trading hub for global markets.

Adopting a holistic approach, the African Dialogue also tackled policy and regulatory frameworks for Africa’s energy transition to ensure  that the exploitation of natural resources has a positive impact for its local economy. On a positive note, Several African countries have successfully implemented policy and regulatory frameworks that support the energy transition like Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria and Morocco.

Leaving no one behind, the Dialogue also shed light on developing energy infrastructure in rural Africa which is grappling with significant energy gap. The speakers stressed that the adoption of renewable energy holds great promise in addressing rural Africa’s energy needs.