The African Energy Chamber (AEC), in partnership with global market intelligence platform, S&P Global, is proud to announce the launch of a technical webinar ahead of the continent’s premier energy event, African Energy Week (AEW) 2022. Taking place on 31 May 2022 (16:00 GMT) under the theme, ‘Africa – What could it be? (The Billion Dollar Question),’ the webinar will focus on frontier markets including South Africa, Namibia and the Ivory Coast; and the need for upstream investment in 2022 and beyond.

S&P Global represents one of the world’s leading intelligence platforms for the energy sector. As a provider of real-time data, research, news and analytics, the organization is considered the ‘go-to’ platform for information on energy trends, financial analytics and market insights, and therefore, represents a critical partner for the AEC as it investigates the ever-changing dynamics of the African energy sector.

With global capital expenditure on the decline, and foreign investment more competitive than ever, the webinar aims to emphasize the role Africa has played and continues to play in global upstream sector, thus, making a strong case for Africa as the recipient of this capital. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, anti-oil energy transition trends and production declines in legacy fields worldwide have caused a significant imbalance in global markets whereby demand far outweighs supply. However, Africa’s frontier basins offer hope in this regard. With many resource-rich countries across the continent implementing regulatory reforms and introducing market-driven policies to ensure an enabling environment for investment, the continent is officially open for business.

The webinar steps into this picture, with high profile speakers leading a discussion on the need for upstream investments in Africa, the impacts these investments will have on job creation, infrastructure development and socioeconomic growth, and scaling up the continent’s refining capacity. If any $1 billion is going to be spent in the global upstream E&P sector, and oil remains a much-needed energy source in 2022, the webinar emphasizes that this investment should be made in Africa’s energy sector.

With this year’s edition of AEW placing even more of a focus on dealmaking, partnerships and regional cooperation, backed by the event’s position as a top decision-making platform regarding all things energy, the webinar will be vital for setting the stage for AEW participants by Providing adequate and sufficient information for deal making and discussions in October.