Key takeaways from Invest in African Energy event in Dubai

Key takeaways from Invest in African Energy event in Dubai

Following successful stops in London, Oslo and Frankfurt earlier this year, the African Energy Chamber’s global investment event landed in Dubai on Thursday.

Takeaways from the presentations and panel discussions held include:

- Exploration hotspots have cropped up across southern, eastern and western regions with sizable hydrocarbon discoveries reported for offshore Angola, Ivory Coast and Namibia in 2022.

- At least 26 drilling campaigns and rigs are expected in Africa in 2023, cementing the continent’s upstream revival. Southern Africa alone will see additional exploration activities in Zimbabwe’s Muzarabani prospect from Invictus Energy, drilling in offshore Block 2B in South Africa by Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas, and frontier exploration in Namibia’s Kavango Basin led by ReconAfrica.

- Mature producers like Angola, Nigeria and South Sudan are expected to dominate Africa’s offshore drilling market, while prioritising shorter-cycle development projects that utilize existing infrastructure and create synergies with regional markets. Shorter-cycle projects can bring a discovery into production in as little as one to three years, as well as offer lower risk, higher potential for commercial production and heightened flexibility within exploration portfolios.

- With 85 percent of funds invested in oil and gas come from outside of Africa, there is a clear perception that African governments