Category: Africa

Source: APO

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Angola’s upstream industry is entering a new investment cycle, with gas commercialization, deepwater development, renewed exploration activity and an expanding independent operator base creating new opportunities across the market. Against this backdrop, energy intelligence firm Welligence has joined the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2026 Conference and Exhibition as an Associate Sponsor.

Welligence provides upstream intelligence covering assets, reserves, production, economics, mergers and acquisitions and emerging investment opportunities, combining analyst expertise with data and AI-driven analytics. Its platform includes more than 4,000 asset-level reports and a database covering 40,000 M&A transactions, supporting companies evaluating upstream markets and investment decisions.

Angola represents an increasingly dynamic market for this type of intelligence. Welligence has identified the country’s upstream sector as entering a new phase of growth and repositioning, supported by gas developments, new oil projects, renewed exploration and rising activity among independent operators.

On the gas front, the start of Angola’s first non-associated gas project, led by the New Gas Consortium, is paving the way for increased feedstock supply to Angola LNG. Meanwhile, the country’s landmark dedicated gas discovery at Block 1/14 in 2025 has strengthened the role of gas commercialization within Angola’s broader upstream strategy.

At the same time, new oil developments are supporting production growth, although Welligence highlights the continued need for greenfield investment as mature assets decline. Recent milestones include the start-up of the Begonia and CLOV Phase 3 projects in 2025, the commissioning of the Agogo FPSO last August and continued progress at the Kaminho project, which is expected to begin production in 2028.

The operator landscape is also evolving. Welligence has highlighted renewed exploration activity by international majors alongside growing participation from independent companies, particularly as Angola’s onshore sector opens and operators seek to reactivate mature assets and build new portfolios.

Recent transactions reinforce this trend. Equinor entered TotalEnergies’ Block 17 in June 2026, while Afentra expanded its onshore footprint through operatorship of KON 5. Woodside Energy’s three-block deal signed in May further underscored growing confidence in Angola’s frontier opportunities, while Etu Energias strengthened its position through acquisitions in Blocks 14 and 14K.

These shifts are increasing the importance of reliable market intelligence as companies assess acreage, transactions, project economics and production potential. Welligence’s participation at AOG 2026 comes at a time when investors and operators are seeking greater visibility into the opportunities shaping Angola’s next phase of upstream growth.

As Associate Sponsor, Welligence will contribute an analytical perspective to discussions at AOG 2026, where industry leaders will examine the investments, partnerships and strategies driving Angola’s energy sector forward. With new entrants entering the market and established operators advancing major developments and exploration programs, data-driven insights will remain critical to guiding future investment decisions.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

Source: APO

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Conflict-stricken Somalia has been devastated by drought and stark cuts in humanitarian aid this year and is now bracing itself for sweeping floods that could push millions more into starvation. Visiting displacement camps in Kismayo, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Secretary General Jan Egeland warned that the situation is at breaking point.

“Entire communities have been waiting months without any help,” Egeland said. “I have met families, women, children and farmers who have lost everything to cycles of drought and hunger. Families are sharing one plate a day of food. Newborns are in danger of dying from malnutrition. Now they are about to be hit by floods, threatening to wipe them out. We cannot turn away and passively allow another catastrophe to hit these families.” 

Six million people, or one out of every three in Somalia, are facing crisis levels of hunger or worse after consecutive seasons of drought. More than 700,000 people have been displaced this year, over 500,000 by drought alone. MSF warns one of every two children in parts of Southern Somalia are malnourished. At the same time, aid cuts have wiped out support for displaced Somalis. Despite the scale of need, Somalia’s humanitarian response remains 70 per cent underfunded. 

Now another emergency threatens Somalis. The country’s Deyr rainy season, expected in October, is forecasted to be amplified by the global El Niño which could bring the country’s most severe flooding since 2023. Forecasters warn that this year’s El Niño could rival the floods of 2023, which displaced 1.2 million people, killed 8,000 farm animals, and damaged 11,000 hectares of farmland. 

“Somalis pay the toll of brutal climate shocks that were in no way of their doing,” Egeland said. “We know that the next shock is coming and we know how hunger turned to famine in the past when Somalia was abandoned. What we don’t have is the funding to act on it.” 

NRC is calling for: 

• Scaled up humanitarian funding for food security, nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter, and protection services in the worst-affected areas.
• Immediate investment in flood preparedness: early warning systems, evacuation planning, and protection of critical infrastructure, ahead of the Deyr rains.
• Cash assistance to help families survive the ongoing hunger crisis.  
• Long-term investment in resilience programming to break the cycle of recurring drought and flood shocks. ​

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Source: APO – Report:

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President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated a five-member Bawku Revitalisation Committee to manage a GHS1 billion development fund aimed at restoring the historic Upper East town and its surrounding communities to their former commercial and social glory.

Chaired by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the committee will oversee post-conflict reconstruction, rebuild damaged public infrastructure, and revive economic activities in the region.

The fund’s establishment follows President Mahama’s earlier endorsement of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II mediation report on December 16, 2025, which laid out a roadmap for lasting peace and reconciliation in the area.

Speaking at the inauguration, President Mahama lamented the tragic toll that decades of chieftaincy and ethnic conflict have taken on the region, noting that the unrest severely crippled local economies and deprived residents of basic services.

“Decades of conflict have stalled both public and private investments, damaged livelihoods, and forced essential service providers, including teachers, nurses, and doctors, to flee the area for their safety,” President Mahama stated.

Highlighting recent improvements in security, the President commended security agencies for their tireless efforts in restoring law and order. He noted a significant decline in sporadic shootings and violence against innocent citizens. He said the time has come to transition from peacekeeping to sustainable economic restoration.

“The allocation for the Bawku Revitalisation Fund has now been made. With safety and security prevailing in Bawku and surrounding areas, this is the time to begin implementing the Fund,” President Mahama declared, charging the committee to execute their duty with transparency, urgency, and dedication.

The five-member committee brings together key government officials and local leadership. In addition to the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the committee comprises:

Hon. Mahama Ayariga, MP for Bawku Central and Minister-designate for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development;

Hon. Akamugri Donatus Atanga, Upper East Regional Minister;

Dr Thomas Anaba, MP for Garu; and

Naba Abugri Cletus Akolwin, Paramount Chief of the Tempane Traditional Area.

Expressing appreciation to the President on behalf of the committee and the traditional leadership, Naba Abugri Cletus Akolwin pledged the team’s full commitment and conveyed the backing of the Bawku Naba.

He assured the nation that the committee would work assiduously to ensure every cedi is effectively used to bring tangible development, social cohesion, and prosperity back to the people of Bawku and neighbouring communities.

The inauguration marks a decisive step in the government’s commitment to securing long-term peace through targeted economic empowerment and infrastructure development in the Upper East Region.

– on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.

Source: APO – Report:

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Halliburton has joined Venezuela Energy Week 2027 as a Platinum Sponsor, bringing one of the world’s leading oilfield services companies into a market where international operators are moving to restore production and expand upstream activity. Taking place February 22–25 in Caracas, Venezuela Energy Week comes as a new investment cycle is creating fresh demand for drilling, well services, reservoir evaluation and production technologies.

Halliburton has already begun repositioning its Venezuelan operations for the changing market. In April, Chairman, President and CEO Jeff Miller said the company was discussing commercial terms with customers and had visited its Venezuelan facilities, which he said were in better condition than expected. In July, Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered the restart of Halliburton’s operations and the return of previously seized assets, removing a significant legal obstacle to the company’s reactivation. Halliburton has since posted new positions in Venezuela, including roles in Maturín covering logging and perforating maintenance and supply-chain procurement, as well as a technical sales position in Zulia.

The timing reflects growing demand for oilfield services as Venezuela moves to reactivate mature fields, expand drilling and bring new investment into production. Halliburton’s capabilities span the full well lifecycle, including drilling, formation evaluation, well construction, completion and production, with services such as well intervention, cementing and stimulation increasingly important as operators work to restore aging wells and infrastructure. As new investment moves from agreements into field activity, Halliburton is positioned to provide the technical expertise and equipment required to translate Venezuela’s resource potential into additional production.

The investment environment is also changing. Venezuela’s January 2026 reform of the Organic Hydrocarbons Law opened new avenues for private participation in primary hydrocarbons activities, including operating and production contracts under which private companies can assume technical, operational and financial management. Subsequent regulations issued in July established the framework for royalties and the integrated hydrocarbons tax, while oil companies have been working to migrate existing agreements into the new regime.

This evolving framework is creating an increasingly important role for international oilfield service companies capable of supplying technology, equipment and technical expertise at scale. Halliburton’s renewed engagement comes as Venezuela moves from regulatory reform and investment agreements toward the practical work of drilling wells, restoring production and expanding field capacity.

At Venezuela Energy Week 2027, Halliburton will bring its renewed Venezuelan presence into discussions on the practical requirements of production growth, from drilling and well construction to completion and intervention. Its Platinum Sponsorship will place the company at the center of conversations around how Venezuela can rebuild oilfield capacity and translate new investment into additional barrels.

– on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

Supporting Venezuela’s Earthquake Recovery
Our thoughts are with the people and communities affected by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela. As the country begins the long process of recovery, we encourage members of the global energy community to support relief and reconstruction efforts through the CAF Recovery and Reconstruction Fund for Venezuela, which channels contributions from individuals, companies and organizations to emergency assistance, essential services and long-term rebuilding efforts.

To learn more or make a contribution, please visit the CAF Recovery and Reconstruction Fund for Venezuela (https://apo-opa.co/4xzji2E)

Source: APO – Report:

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Côte d’Ivoire produces more robusta coffee than almost any country on earth. What it needed was more people who could taste it and tell the world exactly what it is worth.

Denis Seudieu, Chief Economist the International Coffee Organization, put it simply: a seller who cannot taste their own coffee cannot accurately estimate its price. It is a straightforward observation that captures precisely why, for a week in July, 20 coffee specialists gathered at the National Agronomic Research Centre (Centre National de Recherche Agronomique – CNRA) cupping laboratory in Bingerville, Côte d’Ivoire. There they held one of the most rigorous training experiences the Ivorian coffee sector has ever seen.

Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s sixth-largest robusta producer. It has scale, but what it has been building more slowly is the local expertise to position that coffee not just by volume, but by quality: to speak the language of international specialty buyers, command premium prices, and capture more of the value that its coffee deserves. This training was designed to accelerate that shift.

Over six intensive days, the 20 trainees, selected for their expertise across research, quality control, and the coffee value chain, worked through the internationally recognized Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) Q Grader curriculum under the guidance of Rwandese trainer Grace Mukayisenga. The programme moved from the anatomy of taste and green coffee defect analysis through to standardized cupping protocols, triangulation tests, olfactory blind tests, and green coffee grading. It was, by any measure, demanding.

‘It was an enriching week,’ said Adiko Evelyne, a conservation and agricultural products researcher at the CNRA. ‘The experience allowed us to visually inspect many green coffee imperfections we had previously only encountered in theory. I can now precisely identify floaters, quakers, and sour beans. Thanks to ITC, the CNRA has an array of researchers equipped to conduct professional tastings, and even teach others the joy of coffee cupping.’

The training was supported by ITC through the ACP Business-Friendly programme, jointly funded by the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), in partnership with CNRA, the Conseil Café-Cacao, the Robusta Coffee Agency of Africa and Madagascar ACRAM, and the Association of Coffee Promoters (ASPROCAF).

Alongside the human investment, the CNRA cupping laboratory was upgraded with precision equipment like sample roasters and sensory kits to align with international accreditation standards, creating infrastructure that will outlast the training itself.

For the International Trade Centre (ITC), the initiative reflects a broader ambition in Côte d’Ivoire: to shift the sector’s centre of gravity from raw commodity export toward quality-driven value addition, with local expertise at its core. Twenty new Q Graders may not transform a national coffee sector overnight, but they are the people who will train the next cohort, set the standards, and make the argument that Ivorian robusta belongs in a different conversation.

– on behalf of International Trade Centre.