The African Energy Chamber (AEC) is proud to announce the participation of Yaw Amoateng Afriyie, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) at the African Energy Week (AEW) conference and exhibition, Africa’s premier event for the energy sector, which will take place from October 18-21, 2022, in Cape Town.

As a government parastatal, the GIPC is tasked with promoting investments across a number of key sectors in Ghana, including agriculture, mining, fintech, renewable energy, oil & gas and construction. The company’s Deputy CEO, Afriyie, has been instrumental in leading the company alongside CEO Reginald Rofi Grant, with the deputy coming to AEW to discuss investment in a post-COVID-19, energy transition context.

For his part, Afriyie, as a management and political risk professional, has extensive strategic experience regarding matters affecting business and investment in sub-Saharan Africa. In his role as Deputy CEO, Afriyie has and continues to drive the organization’s strategic direction and business development objectives.

Through the works of GIPC and a supporting investor-friendly regulatory environment, Ghana has emerged as a desirable investment destination for global investors with the country’s foreign direct investment increasing by 39% to $2.6 billion in 2021, ranking second in West Africa and seventh in Africa, according to the World Investment Report 2022. Currently, the country is targeting universal access to electricity by 2030, hoping to maximize the country’s 0.8 trillion cubic feet of gas and 660 million barrels of oil reserves whilst diversifying the energy mix with renewable energy deployment.

Recently, developments by majors emphasize the openness of the sector to investment. International players including Eni, bp and Tullow have launched massive investment drives across Ghana’s hydrocarbon sector with projects such as the Tema Liquefied Natural Gas Import Terminal and the Sankofa Gas project, creating a positive outlook for the country’s energy landscape. However, more needs to be done from an investment perspective to unlock the full potential of the country’s energy sector. In this regard, Afriyie will be key, promoting investment opportunities across Ghana’s high potential sector during AEW 2022 in Cape Town. 

The participation of Afriyie as a speaker at Africa’s leading investment platform for the energy sector will be crucial for shaping discussions around the best financial solutions available, and how Africa can address its growing investment and infrastructure rollout gap to address energy poverty. In addition to driving investment-focused dialogue, AEW 2022 represents the best platform for stakeholders such as Afriyie to directly engage with regional and global stakeholders, negotiating and signing deals.

Prior to joining GIPC, Afriyie worked as the Managing Director of Elmina Advisory Ltd, West Africa head at Africa Matters Ltd and with FTI Consulting and Africa Practice, London, where he has gained vast experience in researching and analyzing investment trends across various industries. By joining Ghanaian energy market executives including Hon. Freddie Blay, Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Chief Executive at Ghana’s downstream petroleum regulator, the National Petroleum Authority, at AEW 2022, Afriyie will leverage his expertise to make a strong case for investment, particularly regarding capital intensive projects such as Aker Energy’s Pecan Floating Production Storage and Offloading facility and Springfield E&P’s Afina as the country seeks to become a net oil and gas exporter whilst meeting domestic energy needs.

“We commend the works conducted by the GIPC in improving Ghana’s attractiveness as an investment destination. As a result, Ghana now represents one of Africa’s top markets for investors and international players to enter, and, coupled with the country’s rich hydrocarbon basins, massive economic growth driven by secure energy supply and socioeconomic expansion is in the making. We are proud to be hosting Mr. Afriyie at AEW 2022 this October where deals and policies that will change both Ghana and Africa’s energy landscape will be tabled and signed,” states Tomás C. Gerbasio, Strategy and Business Development Director of the AEC.

At AEW 2022, Mr. Afriyie will participate in investment forums, high-level meetings and panel discussions focusing on how Africa can accelerate investments across its energy sector to make energy poverty history across the continent by 2030.