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Africa needs architecture of delivery, not good intentions, says Sec-Gen of APPO (AEW 2026)
African Energy Week has gathered thousands of energy leaders, global investors, government officials, and policymakers in Cape Town this week. Yesterday, the 8th annual African Petroleum Producers' Organization (APPO)’s National Oil Companies’ CEOs Forum elected a new Chair and called for focus on strategic cooperation.
Africa’s National Oil Companies (NOCs) are vital platforms for national energy security and economic sovereignty, and must move beyond high-level dialogue to focus on strategic cooperation for fast-tracked project delivery and local value creation, said APPO Secretary General Farid Ghezali yesterday in Cape Town.
“To build a competitive sector, African NOCs must strengthen internal partnerships across critical areas, including refining technology, gas infrastructure, petrochemicals, and project financing,” said Ghezali, addressing the 8th annual meeting of the CEOs of APPO NOCs at African Energy Week (AEW).
Africa needs to look at how much value it can create from the energy it produces, said Ghezali, as he urged delegates to focus on practical outcomes to ensure long-term impact: what projects NOCs could develop together; where value chains could be integrated; which projects are ready to be executed now.
Ghezali highlighted the launch of the African Energy Bank as a crucial mechanism to ensure NOCs can finance strategic projects which they cooperate on to enhance regional energy sovereignty, and urged African NOCs to combine domestic capabilities, assets, and off-take agreements to de-risk projects.
"Africa does not need an architecture of good intentions, but an architecture of delivery," he concluded, stressing the true success of industry forums like AEW will be measured not by conversations held, but by tangible investments, implemented projects, and economic opportunities delivered to African citizens.
At the same CEO Forum yesterday, the first day of AEW 2026, Godfrey Moagi, the CEO of the South African National Petroleum Company, was appointed Chair of the APPO’s National Oil Companies’ CEOs Forum, taking the baton from Kwame Ntow Amoah, CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.
Moagi spoke of three priorities for his tenure as Chair: building refineries and viable markets to address vulnerabilities; fast-tracking the establishment of the Africa Energy Bank to ensure availability of financing for Africa’s strategic energy infrastructure, and increasing cooperation among African NOCs to develop the technical skills and workforces to maximize the region’s energy value chain.
The importance of regional collaboration to Africa’s energy future was a key theme stressed repeatedly by Ghezali, Moagi, and outgoing Chair Amoah.
"When confronting challenges, we must look across our borders for solutions,” said Moagi. “My three priorities will be underpinned by our people, and we must collaborate to develop the technical skills we need right here on the continent. I intend to chair this forum as a convener for all of Africa, not as a representative for South African interests. I am an African before I am a South African,”