Premier Invest will return as the Deal Room Sponsor at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026, strengthening its role as one of the continent’s most active platforms for structured energy financing and transaction facilitation. The announcement builds on a multi-year partnership, during which the Deal Room has evolved into a cornerstone of AEW’s investment agenda – bringing together project sponsors, financiers and policymakers in a focused environment designed to accelerate deal closure across Africa’s oil, gas and renewables sectors.
The Deal Room has become one of AEW’s most closely watched features, reflecting growing demand for practical investment platforms in a market where Africa continues to attract only a small share of global energy capital. It functions as a live transaction space, directly connecting investors with structured, bankable opportunities across the continent.
At AEW 2025, the Premier Invest Deal Room showcased approximately $13.4 billion in energy opportunities spanning upstream, midstream, downstream and renewable projects, underscoring the scale and diversity of Africa’s investment pipeline. The session consistently draws strong participation from private equity firms, family offices, trading houses and regional financiers.
Led by Founder and Managing Partner René Awambeng, Premier Invest advises on and structures transactions across Africa’s energy value chain, mobilizing capital from global investors while deepening engagement with regional financial institutions. The firm secured its license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority in 2025, marking a key milestone in its institutional expansion and regulatory positioning, and has since advanced a broader group structure designed to strengthen trade finance flows and investment facilitation in emerging markets.
More recently, Premier Invest has expanded its footprint beyond traditional energy financing into adjacent sectors, including the advancement of its African Sports Infrastructure Fund, underscoring its growing interest in infrastructure-linked investment platforms that complement long-term economic development strategies across the continent.
At AEW 2026, the Deal Room is expected to further sharpen its focus on deal conversion, with increased emphasis on follow-through sessions, investor matchmaking and structured negotiation formats. The platform has also gained recognition for its role in catalyzing real transactions and helping move projects from early-stage visibility to term-sheet readiness.
“The Deal Room is where Africa’s energy ambition meets execution,” said African Energy Chamber Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk. “This is about deals getting structured, capital getting mobilized and projects moving forward. Its return in 2026 reinforces AEW’s role as the continent’s premier marketplace for energy investment and deal-making.”
With AEW 2026 set to bring together an even wider pool of global investors and African energy stakeholders, the Premier Invest Deal Room is expected to remain one of the event’s defining spaces for translating ambition into executed investment outcomes.
For more information, visit: https://aecweek.com/aec-deal-room
