Author: Opinion

• Behind every discovery in the African energy industry, final investment decision (FID), and first oil announcement in our continent are companies of all sizes.
• Collectively, these companies are validating the long-held assertion by the Africa Energy Chamber (AEC) that the African continent represents the next frontier for energy exploration and production.
• Where international corporate divestment from Africa’s oil industry is occurring, smaller players are taking up the slack.

Behind every discovery, final investment decision (FID), and first oil announcement in our continent are companies of all sizes, advancing our energy industry and bringing Africans closer to realizing the energy security and prosperity their petroleum resources represent.

Collectively, these companies are validating the long-held assertion by the Africa Energy Chamber (AEC) that the African continent represents the next frontier for energy exploration and production.

Despite concerns over corporate divestment from the African oil and gas sector in recent years — moves …

• As AfCFTA becomes a part of the daily business environment, governments and businesses need to know how product standards and regulations protect traders and the society.
• Governments need to create an enabling environment for investors, which becomes more attractive to foreign direct investment if harmonization of standards exists.
• Other trading blocs such as the European Union are strong because they collaborate on standards and compliance regulations.

The African continent presents huge potential for growth, and the recently introduced African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement promises to underpin trade facilitation and economic expansion, becoming the largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organization in 1995.

The longest journey starts with a single step. Governments, public bodies, private institutions, and investors are engaging in conversations with a pointed focus on compliance standards, verification of conformities, and regulatory alignment to encourage safe import and export.

Africa’s current population …

Yield-chasing investors have poured money into Africa, but an emerging, recent challenge for the continent is that in a now higher interest rate environment, investors don’t need to come to Africa to find higher returns.

Even US treasuries are now yielding far more attractive yields than just a month ago: three-month government bonds offer 5.32 per cent, while 2-year bonds offer a yield above five per cent. Yields have risen in part in response to Fitch’s recent downgrade of the US from AAA to AA+, echoing S&P’s move in 2011.
African bond issuers, spooked by the high-interest rate environment and refusing to issue bonds above the psychological barrier of double-digit yields for Sub-Saharan African bonds, continue to wait it out on the sidelines.…

• A good leader must lead by example and practice what they preach, this demonstrates integrity, it builds trust and respect.
• Leaders must demand excellence: Only by going the extra mile and pushing ourselves, will we truly develop and standout.
• Leaders recognise the talent in their team and then push to unlock the talent. 

People often ask me, Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu (TOE) how do I learn leadership. Should I go on a course? Buy a book? Get a mentor? Are leaders born, or can you become a leader?

Just as I say about business success, leadership has many components – luck, being in the right place at the right time. But I also believe that those talents and those disciplines that you bring, creating a vision and the resilience and focus that delivers that vision, can also forge your own personal leadership.

I was fortunate to work with Chief Ebitimi Banigo, …

South Africa’s poultry sector is currently undergoing serious challenges. The ongoing load shedding and power disruptions have put tremendous pressure and additional costs on the industry, which makes producing poultry products extremely expensive. One company (Astral Foods) has spent an additional $47.56 million (R919 million) due to load shedding alone. This has had a significant impact on the profitability and sustainability of the company. To make matters worse – South Africa’s poultry sector has been hit with a significant avian influenza epidemic.…

• Contrary to the general belief that Nigeria is the giant of Africa, incessant violence and armed conflicts have drastically reduced the influence of Nigeria on the continent.
• Despite its huge resources, Nigeria still suffers from poverty, inequality, unemployment, insecurity, corruption, high fuel and commodity prices, and other political and economic hardships.
• The biggest threats to Nigeria’s stability include bad governance, electoral mal-practices, corruption, economic hardship, inflation, terrorism, kidnapping, and ethnic divisions.

It is one of Africa’s behemoths. A country with vast resources and immense complexities. Boasting the largest economy of all states in Africa, Nigeria has long been considered one of the jewels in the crown of this continent. But, the country’s future and that of its more than 210 million people is looking bleak, which holds only dire consequences for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Nigeria’s high rate of inflation

“Current daily developments in political, economic, …

• The Cortex Hub and Angel Fair Africa have reached the milestone of a decade of nurturing innovation, fostering entrepreneurship, and connecting African startups with investors.
• The initiative aimed to create an innovation hub in the Eastern Cape to unlock the latent potential of the region’s emerging talent pool and drive technological innovation and break down barriers hindering growth.
• It was initiated by the author, who had previously worked in the ICT field during the apartheid era and had a personal interest in driving technological advancement and economic empowerment in the region.

In a landscape defined by the ebb and flow of African entrepreneurship, milestones are more than mere time markers; they stand as beacons of progress. This year, we gather to celebrate an extraordinary achievement as both The Cortex Hub and Angel Fair Africa reach the impressive milestone of a decade. A decade of unwavering dedication to nurturing innovation, fostering …

• Africa has a capacity of 125GW of hydrogen, second only to wind in terms of renewable energy.
• The Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance (AGHA) aims to produce 30-60 million tonnes of clean hydrogen annually to add up to $126 billion to the continent’s GDP by 2050.
• The gas is an environmentally positive fuel with low emissions when produced with electrolysis powered by renewable energy.

There’s a new powerhouse in African renewables. And it has plenty of experts talking about it. The report “The State of African Energy 2Q 2023 Outlook,” recently released by The African Energy Chamber (AEC), discusses the current and future projections for renewables on the continent. The most exciting finding is the competitive growth within the hydrogen electrolyzer space.

Africa’s current announced capacity of hydrogen, of about 125 gigawatts (GW), has overtaken solar capacity on the continent and is now second only to wind when it comes to …

• Africa possesses huge renewable energy potential, including 60% of the world’s best solar resources.
• There is 1,300GW of wind energy potential in the sub-Saharan region, and a capacity to produce 5,000 megatonnes of hydrogen annually.
• However, to realize this potential, Africa must invest in infrastructure development, and build effective grid systems.
• Africa must establish robust energy storage facilities, and create favorable policy and regulatory frameworks.

Of the nearly 1.5 billion people living on this continent, how many of us know just how blessed Africa is with renewable energy resources? How many of us know that Africa has the potential to play a pivotal role in the global transition to a more sustainable energy future?

The fact is that this continent has abundant renewable energy potential. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Africa is home to 60 percent of the best solar resources globally, the sub-Saharan region alone has 1,300GW …

Despite the worldwide call commanding the global business community to divest from fossil fuels and shrink their carbon footprints in the name of net zero, international oil companies (IOCs) still recognize Africa as their next frontier.…