South Sudan’s former-Minister of Petroleum Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth has called on Frontier to move the annual Africa Energies Summit to Africa, highlighting the critical value of hosting an Africa-focused event on African soil. As the voice of the African energy sector, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) (https://EnergyChamber.org) strongly agrees with the calls of Gatkuoth. At a time when investing in African energy has become a critical topic, hosting an international energy conference on the continent has become even more imperative. 

More than ever, Africa requires significant levels of global investment. At present, over 600 million people currently lack access to electricity in Africa while over 900 million people live without access to clean cooking solutions. Global oil and gas investment has been on the decline in recent years, presenting major implications for African countries that rely on these resources. While renewable energy investment continues to grow worldwide, Africa only receives 2% of this investment. To close the energy access gap in Africa, the continent requires $25 billion in annual investment by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. As such, the need to promote African energy interests has become increasingly more important.

It is within this picture that it becomes key to bringing the conversation about African energy to Africa. Hosting an event such as Africa Energies Summit in Western Europe does not make sense when Africa has the perfect platform of its own to host these types of events.

Taking place from May 13-15 in London, Africa Energies Summit has dubbed itself Africa’s premier global upstream conference, bringing together Africa’s energy industry. The event is the only African energy conference hosted by Frontier. But the question remains: why can an African energy conference not be hosted in Africa? Instead of taking Africa to the world, the world should come to Africa. By taking place in London every year, Africa Energies Summit is stating that Africa is not suitable to host its own international energy conference, a misunderstanding that will have significant impacts on the continent’s sector. 

“We cannot keep taking the conversation about Africa outside of the continent. Just like it would not make sense for an event focused on Europe to be hosted in Africa, we should not be hosting an event about Africa in Europe. It is time to prioritize Africa. By hosting an African energy conference on the continent, we bring significant benefits to local communities and industries,” stated Gatkuoth.

Beyond the energy sector, bringing the Africa Energies Summit to Africa brings a range of benefits to the continent. AEW: Invest in African Energies, for example, has created significant value addition for local markets and industries by prioritizing local businesses, supporting business tourism and creating local employment opportunities. By bringing international events to Africa, conferences ensure that local hotels, venues, workforces and more benefit. As such, the significance of hosting large-scale events in African cannot be overstated and should be considered by organizers such as Frontier.

As an industry, we need to prioritize local communities' voices and create employment opportunities in Africa's energy sector. It's time to showcase Africa's capabilities and host investment forums on our own continent. We've seen misrepresentations repeated by events like Africa Oil Week in Dubai; but it's time to break this trend. Africa is capable of hosting its own energy conferences, and we should lead the narrative.

“We have seen the same misinterpretations by groups such as Africa Oil Week when it went to Dubai and it needs to end. Africa is fully capable of hosting an international energy conference. We do not need to go abroad to discuss our own energy matters. By bringing the conversation to Africa, we prioritize African interests and narratives. The AEC wholeheartedly agrees with Gatkuoth, that the Africa Energies Summit must be brought to Africa,” stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.