The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC), O.A Danquah on Thursday, March 30, 2023, joined international energy experts at the opening of the Invest in African Energy Forum.
The forum was to showcase investment and partnership opportunities across Africa’s burgeoning energy sector.
This high-level panel discussion also aimed to enhance energy cooperation between African energy policymakers and stakeholders with the international financial community and global investors.
Under the theme, “Africa’s Advantage: Taking Advantage of Africa’s Upstream Opportunities,” panelists included O. A. Danquah, CEO of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Eng. Bernard Amuor Makeny, CEO of NilePet, and Matthew Rawlings, Vice President of Upstream Consulting for S&P Global Commodity Insights, with Geoffrey Warr, Consulting Sales Director responsible for Europe, Middle East and Africa for S&P Global Commodity Insights, serving as moderator.
Africa continues to hold resource-rich basins with billions of untapped proven oil and gas reserves, with exploration hotspots cropping up across southern, eastern and western regions. Sizable hydrocarbon discoveries offshore Angola, Ivory Coast and Namibia in 2022 alone – coupled with proactive regulatory reforms – provide the continent with unparalleled opportunities for upstream growth and development.
Speaking on ‘Making Energy Poverty History by 2030- Africa’s Advantage’ at the opening ceremony, Mr Danquah said: “Over a third of Africa’s produced oil is exported out of the continent. African governments need to collaborate and ensure that these resources are used for African development.”
He also stated that the advantage of Africa is that there is a lot of supply of natural gas resources, and there is a lot of potential demand. Consequently, the resources cannot be stranded in the long term.
The CEO further shared his thoughts that “Most of the funds ploughed in Africa’s upstream petroleum sector are from the Global North and Asia.
“At least 85% of funds invested today come from outside the continent. So, there is a clear and rational perception that African governments are not putting enough capital into Africa,” he stated.
At least 26 drilling campaigns and rigs are expected in Africa in 2023, cementing the continent’s upstream revival.
Southern Africa alone will see additional exploration activities in Zimbabwe’s Muzarabani prospect from Invictus Energy, drilling in offshore Block 2B in South Africa by Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas, and frontier exploration in Namibia’s Kavango Basin led by ReconAfrica.
