African Energy Chamber, WPC Energy Rally Behind Stronger African Voice in Global Energy Debate

With African Energy Week in Cape Town and the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh set to overlap in October, the African Energy Chamber and WPC Energy are advancing a common message: Africa must be treated as a central player in the global energy system, with Africans taking the lead in determining how the continent develops its resources.

By Ajong Mbapndah L

Africa’s growing importance to the global energy system is receiving fresh emphasis from the African Energy Chamber and WPC Energy, which have called for stronger African leadership, increased investment and deeper international partnerships as the continent seeks to turn its vast resources into economic transformation.

In a joint statement, African Energy Chamber Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk and WPC Energy President Pedro Miras said Africa’s energy future must be shaped by Africans, while international engagement should recognise the continent as a strategic partner rather than simply a source of resources.

The statement comes at a significant moment for the global energy industry. African Energy Week will take place in Cape Town from October 12–16, while the 25th WPC Energy Congress is scheduled for Riyadh from October 11–15. Together, the gatherings will bring governments, national energy companies, investors, international energy firms and policymakers into discussions on energy security, access, investment, affordability and the future direction of the industry.

For Ayuk, the central issue is not simply whether Africa participates in global energy discussions, but whether Africans have meaningful influence over decisions affecting the development of their resources.

“Africa’s energy future is one of opportunity, growth and partnership — and it is one that Africans will lead,” Ayuk said. “We welcome international platforms that engage with the continent as a partner.”

He also welcomed WPC Energy’s recognition of African Energy Week and said stronger collaboration between the two organisations could reinforce Africa’s position in the international energy debate while showcasing the continent’s resources, expertise and ambitions.

“We appreciate WPC Energy’s recognition of African Energy Week’s role, and we look forward to a constructive relationship and collaboration that reinforces Africa’s key position on the global energy stage, while highlighting the continent’s resources, talent and ambition,” Ayuk said.

The African Energy Chamber has consistently argued that Africa should be able to develop its oil and gas resources alongside renewables and emerging energy technologies, while ensuring that investment produces jobs, infrastructure, local industries, energy access and stronger domestic value chains.

That argument is gaining urgency because Africa remains one of the world’s most resource-rich yet energy-poor regions. The continent accounts for around one-fifth of the global population and holds significant oil and natural gas reserves, while its renewable potential is even larger. The International Energy Agency estimates that Africa contains about 60 percent of the world’s best solar resources.

Despite that abundance, hundreds of millions of Africans remain without electricity. Around 600 million people on the continent still lack electricity access, while more than one billion do not have access to clean cooking solutions. In sub-Saharan Africa, roughly 47 percent of the population was without electricity in 2024.

The gap between resources and access remains one of the defining contradictions of Africa’s development. It is also central to the African Energy Chamber’s push for energy policy to place economic growth, industrialisation and domestic needs at the heart of the conversation.

The investment deficit is equally significant. The IEA estimates that less than $2.5 billion was committed to new electricity-access connections in sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, while annual investment of about $15 billion could be required to achieve universal electricity access across Africa within the next decade.

For African governments, the challenge therefore extends far beyond attracting headline investments. The bigger task is converting resources beneath the ground and renewable potential above it into reliable electricity, industries, jobs, government revenue and wider economic opportunity.

From Resource Supplier to Energy Powerhouse

For decades, much of Africa’s relationship with global energy markets has centred on exporting raw resources. Oil and gas have flowed from producing countries to international markets even as many African economies have remained underpowered and heavily dependent on imported refined products.

That model is increasingly being challenged by African policymakers, national energy companies and industry groups demanding stronger domestic value creation. The emphasis is shifting toward local processing, stronger supply chains, African participation in major projects and infrastructure that can support manufacturing and industrialisation.

Africa is also becoming increasingly important to emerging clean-energy supply chains. Beyond hydrocarbons, the continent holds major deposits of cobalt, manganese, platinum and other minerals needed for batteries, electrification and renewable technologies. The IEA estimates Africa holds about 40 percent of global reserves of cobalt, manganese and platinum.

The opportunity therefore stretches across oil, natural gas, renewable power, critical minerals and new energy technologies. Yet attracting the scale of capital required remains difficult, with high financing costs, regulatory uncertainty, currency risks, infrastructure gaps and limited access to affordable capital slowing projects across many markets.

Africa also receives a disproportionately small share of global energy investment. North Africa and South Africa together account for less than 20 percent of the continent’s population but receive more than 45 percent of its energy investment and hold more than 65 percent of installed electricity capacity, according to the IEA.

These disparities are expected to form part of the broader investment conversation at African Energy Week, where the African Energy Chamber has positioned the Cape Town gathering as a platform for African governments and industry leaders to present projects, engage investors and shape the continent’s energy narrative from an African perspective.

Cape Town Puts African Priorities at the Centre

African Energy Week has increasingly become a meeting point for governments, national oil companies, independent producers, investors, financiers and service companies seeking opportunities across Africa’s energy landscape.

The 2026 edition comes as countries across the continent pursue new oil, gas, renewable, power and infrastructure projects while trying to balance domestic development priorities with changing global investment policies and pressure around the energy transition.

For the African Energy Chamber, that balance includes defending Africa’s right to develop hydrocarbons where they can contribute to industrialisation and energy security, while also supporting investment in renewables and emerging technologies.

The underlying issue remains whether Africa’s energy wealth can produce measurable benefits for African economies. Electricity is essential to manufacturing, mining, agriculture, healthcare, digital services, education and the small businesses that provide much of the continent’s employment.

The IEA has repeatedly warned that inadequate energy supply continues to constrain African industrialisation and productivity, making affordable and reliable power central to the continent’s wider economic ambitions.

The debate around African leadership is therefore about more than representation at international conferences. It also concerns who determines investment priorities, where infrastructure is built, how projects are financed, how much value is retained locally and whether energy development improves living standards.

WPC Energy Backs Stronger African Participation

WPC Energy’s support adds an important global dimension to that message. The organisation operates through a network of national committees and international energy stakeholders and has long-standing relationships with African governments, companies, technical experts and industry associations.

WPC Energy President Pedro Miras said Africa is already a critical part of the global energy discussion and stressed the importance of collaboration, knowledge sharing and stronger African participation.

“Africa is a vital part of the global discussion, and we are proud of our long-standing relationships with countries, National Committees and industry associations across the continent,” Miras said.

He argued that cooperation between African and international stakeholders could help address energy security, economic growth and sustainable development while ensuring African leadership is reflected more strongly in global forums.

“By working together, sharing knowledge and building partnerships, we can support solutions that advance energy security, economic growth and sustainable development for communities,” Miras said.

The overlapping timing of the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh and African Energy Week in Cape Town gives the joint statement additional significance. Rather than presenting the two platforms as competitors, the organisations are framing them as complementary forums capable of strengthening Africa’s participation in global energy decision-making.

Both organisations have encouraged African governments, national energy companies and partners to engage fully across the two events, while committing to collaboration that brings together investors, policymakers and industry leaders around energy access, innovation, investment and sustainable development.

A Bigger Question of African Agency

Africa contributes less than 3 percent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions while accounting for a rapidly growing share of the world’s population. Its modern energy consumption per person remains among the lowest globally, reinforcing arguments that African countries face a development challenge fundamentally different from that of mature industrial economies.

Those realities make the continent difficult to fit neatly into energy strategies developed elsewhere. African governments must simultaneously expand electricity access, attract investment, industrialise their economies, create jobs and respond to climate pressures.

That is why the African Energy Chamber’s emphasis on African agency resonates well beyond the oil and gas sector. The argument is increasingly about whether Africa can move from being principally a supplier of raw commodities to becoming an energy and industrial powerhouse with greater control over its economic future.

As Cape Town and Riyadh prepare to host two of the year’s major energy gatherings, Ayuk and Miras are advancing a shared proposition: Africa should no longer sit at the margins of decisions shaping the future of global energy.

For a continent endowed with oil, natural gas, exceptional renewable resources and minerals critical to emerging technologies, the potential is substantial. The harder challenge is converting that abundance into electricity, jobs, industrial capacity, stronger African companies and lasting prosperity.

The message emerging from the African Energy Chamber and WPC Energy is that Africa intends to play a much bigger role in determining how that transformation unfolds.