In Conversation With Marcel Awasum: Inside A $10 Billion Pipeline And The Future Of African-Led Dealmaking
June 17, 2025
We’re not just sourcing deals. We’re building a new way of doing business in Africa, one that starts from within., says Marcel Awasum, CQF, Head of Business Development, Premier Invest
When Premier Invest hosted its flagship Deal Room at Invest in African Energy 2025, the goal was never just to showcase opportunities. It was to shift perspective, to prove that African-led investment platforms can deliver bankable, structured, high-impact transactions at scale.
And we did. $10 billion in active deals. 17 projects. One room.
Marcel Awasum, Head of Business Development at Premier Invest, in this month edition of our In Conversation With series, talks about what this moment meant and why it signals more than momentum. It signals a mindset shift
The Deal Room isn’t a moment. It’s a model.
"Our Deal Room isn’t about pitching - it’s a true representation of our everyday work,” Marcel explains. “Each opportunity we brought to Paris was already underway. We’re actively advising on them, mobilising capital, structuring risk, and engaging with family offices, PE firms, sovereign wealth funds, and both international and regional financial institutions.”
From upstream to midstream, trading to renewables, the Premier Invest Deal Room featured a diverse pipeline, each project handpicked for both impact and readiness.
Highlight deals included: A 200,000-barrel-per-day crude oil refinery seeking $4.8 billion in blended equity and debt
A $50 million letter-of-credit-backed trade finance facility
Gas and downstream distribution projects across Benin, Nigeria, and the Republic of Congo
African capital, African deals
But beyond the numbers, there was something deeper at stake.
“Too often we talk about deals as if they happen to Africa,” Marcel says. “But we’re proving they can be led from Africa by African institutions, structured by African experts, and funded, in part, with African capital.”
The Deal Room brought together global investors, including private equity funds, family offices, and regional banks, many of whom expressed interest not just in the projects, but in the model.
“We're not gatekeeping,” Marcel adds. “We’re co-creating. That’s the difference.”
We’re building a trusted engine for investment into Africa,, says Awasum
From service to ownership: the next phase of local content
At his panel during #IAE2025, Marcel delivered a message that struck a chord with many: It’s time to move beyond traditional local content frameworks and into true local ownership.
For him, this isn’t theoretical. It’s structural.
“We need policy environments that de-risk investment for indigenous operators. We need financial structures that help them scale. And we need institutions like Premier Invest that sit in the middle helping translate ambition into bankable execution.”
Marcel also pointed to a critical imbalance: “Indigenous operators are often expected to compete on global terms without access to global resources. That’s where we come in to help bridge that gap.”
From pitch to platform
The energy in the room was undeniable. But what happens next?
“Follow-through,” Marcel says. “We’ve already started deep-dive sessions with investors on several of the projects. This is about conversion moving from interest to term sheets.”
He also sees the Deal Room as something that should evolve: “We want this to be a continental platform rotating across capitals, showcasing different sectors, creating repeatable formats that align with local investment landscapes.”
What’s next for Premier Invest?
Bigger deal rooms. More capital flow. Faster execution.
“We’re building a trusted engine for investment into Africa,” Marcel says. “And that takes consistency. Not just events but content, data, performance, relationships.”
From his seat, the future looks collaborative, data-driven, and African-led.
“I believe the next wave of Africa’s development won’t be dictated by external capital. It will be shaped by who structures the deals, who shares the risk, and who owns the outcome.”
And Premier Invest? We’ll be in the room including at our next flagship Deal Room hosted this September at African Energy Week AECin Cape Town, where the focus will be on African-led investment and homegrown execution.
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