Driving Regional Energy Growth in Central Africa: African Energy Week in Cape Town Emphasizes Market-Driven Policies, Local Content Development, and an Enabling Environment
Through a series of high-level meetings with industry leaders and international oil companies, Leoncio Amada NZE, African Energy Chamber Executive President for the CEMAC region, is driving a strong narrative on the role of regulation and an enabling environment in accelerating investment in Equatorial Guinea.
By promoting African Energy Week (AEW) 2021 in Cape Town South Africa as the ideal platform whereby global and African stakeholders can network and collaborate, he is driving an Africa-focused narrative and pushing for a multi-stakeholder approach to attracting investment and establishing a competitive African market both Equatorial Guinea and the wider CEMAC region.
The CEMAC region – which comprises Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo – is richly endowed with multiple natural resources, in which a recent oil and gas boom has the potential to accelerate economic growth and alleviate energy poverty throughout the region. Despite comprising one of the richest areas on the continent – with existing production levels at 700,000 barrels of oil per day and 5 million tons of LNG per annum – the CEMAC region also remains one of the most challenging business environments in Africa, with red tape and burdensome regulations creating significant barriers to entry.
Gas from the YoYo/Yolanda field (which straddles the maritime border between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, operated by Noble Energy on both sides) may also be eventually processed at Punta Europa. In mid-2017, Noble Energy signed an agreement with both governments to develop the fields jointly. Resources for YoYo are estimated at 47 Bcfg and 18 MMbc, whilst resources for Yolanda have been estimated at 27 Bcfg. The delays in approving these deals are not helpful to the citizens of both countries and we urge all players to fast track the process. Whilst the Etinde fields are just 35km away from Punta Europa, we are concerned about the delays in developing this project as well. We hope to see an FID soon and free from regional politics.