Last week we attended the two-day Africa Assembly in Paris to listen and participate in discussions on Africa’s E&P landscape. It was very inspiring and encouraging to hear about Africa’s growth and ambition for upstream oil and gas. Here are just some of the highlights in a busy conference schedule.
Women’s Energy Council Panel Discussion
An inspiring introduction by Pam Darwin of Exxon Mobil highlighted the 4 Es that the industry needs to deliver to achieve greater gender diversity and equality in the African Energy Industry – Energy, Education, Empowerment and Employment.
Pam then went on to discuss the proven initiatives that Exxon Mobil have introduced to address these 4 Es. For example, to address the Education gap they are making investments in STEM education in Angola, South Africa and Nigerian schools. They have also pledged $5 million to social change organisations dedicated to women’s economic empowerment through the ‘She Counts’ program
She also outlined the following initiatives designed to empower women in the oil and gas business.
- She is working with the UN on a roadmap to promote women’s economic empowerment. Further details can be found at http://www.womeneconroadmap.org/
- Global Women in Management Program
- WE Connect a not-for-profit global diversity organisation that helps women-owned businesses
- Solar Sister gives Nigerian and Tanzanian women-led businesses access to solar technology.
After Pam’s stimulating introduction, the assembled panel of inspiring business-women discussed positive initiatives happening across Africa:
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- Nillian Mulemi, CEO of Petrofund Explored training opportunities for women in oil and gas industries in Namibia and discussed how Petrofund are supporting women’s STEM education through scholarships and educational development
- Nilza Abdula of ENHL discussed government-embraced policies focused on gender and getting girls into schools and universities in Mozambique for STEM subjects.
- Both Mariah Lucciano-Gabriel from Asharami Energy and Solanke from Oando highlighted the support their companies give to women returning to work after having children. They both encouraged women to share their stories. talked about how Oando uses social media as a platform to show women’s success in oil and gas business through their site and on twitter #womeninindustry
Other highlights of the Africa Assembly include:
Key factors to Operator success
As part of a panel discussion, Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Managing Director of FIRST Exploration & Petroleum Development Company highlighted some keys to success – including working with the top service contractors, alignment of JV partnership and cost control
Opportunities in South Africa
Tobias Tonsing from Africa Energy said that doing business with South Africa offered low risk and high reward as the South African government are encouraging oil and gas development with progressive terms. He summed up South Africa as Unique, Diverse, Rich and Growing
Nigeria’s Gas to Power Potential
Austin Avuru from our client SEPLAT, (see our work with SEPLAT), joined a lively panel discussion and made some good practical suggestions for how Nigeria can release their gas to power potential. “Gas to Power and Gas to Industries is a gamechanger and a national priority in Nigeria – Seplat are leading the way”. Said Mr Avuru
National Oil Company (NOC) Announcement
Petrosen of Senegal won the Oil Council award for the NOC (National Oil Company) of the year at the Africa Assembly Awards dinner. Their Exploration and Production Director, Joseph Medou reviewed Senegal’s history from first discovery in 1961 to the very significant discoveries of 2014 onwards, with more to come. He gave a compelling case for investing in Senegal which still offers undrilled potential.
Ugandan E&P growth
Uganda NOC’s Emmanuel Mugagga talked about their mission to drive sustainable growth in the region for the benefit of all Ugandans. He highlighted the untapped, unexplored potential of Uganda. For more information on the Africa Assembly, read the Oil and Gas Council’s coverage
Africa Oil and Gas E&P business challenges
This event, combined with Frontier’s African E&P Summit – which we sponsored in April (see our highlights for this event) underlines the challenges and opportunities of Africa for oil and gas. One thing that affects all aspects of African E&P is obtaining quality finance and asset management data from your business systems to enable you to make sound management and purchasing decisions. And overall, as FIRST E&P emphasised in their talk, keep costs to a minimum.
If you have African assets or are considering getting into the African upstream market, we suggest reading our article on African E&P development. This blog explores challenges that businesses with African presence face and how to overcome them with tailored software solutions.
If you are interested in business solutions that match your African oil and gas ambitions, contact us.
(All images courtesy of The Oil and Gas Council)
