-From Malabo to Maputo: A Personal Reflection on African Energy Week, N.J. Ayuk, and Why Local Content Is Ultimately About People
By Ken McGhee*
“The greatest success I have had in Africa’s energy sector was never finding oil, negotiating contracts, or building projects. It was helping people become ready to do that.”
In more than twenty years working in the oil and gas industry, I have always been what I like to call “on the soft side” of the sector. That is to say, I am not a geologist, an engineer, or any type of operational specialist.
I first entered the industry with Bechtel Corporation in Equatorial Guinea as an Administrative Manager, which in reality meant doing a little bit of everything, but none of the technical jobs described above. What I was tasked to do was work with local staff, local stakeholders, local communities, and local government as we all sought to understand what oil and gas development meant for an African country experiencing such a transformation for the first time.
I was expected to share my knowledge, experience, and lessons learned with local colleagues who quickly became far more than co-workers. In many respects, they became a team and, in some cases, even a family.
The same model followed me as I later moved to Ghana, returned to Equatorial Guinea, and eventually arrived in Mozambique, where I continue to work today.
I often say that others have defined, interpreted, legislated, and even practiced Local Content. What I have done is to live it.
Virtually every assignment I have held in Africa’s growing oil and gas sector has involved “working myself out of a job” and working someone else into it. That may sound unusual, but for me that has always been the true essence of Local Content. The goal was never to remain indispensable. The goal was always to prepare someone else to step forward.
And in almost every case, those individuals went on to excel.
Some became successful SME owners. Others became innovative entrepreneurs. Some became stronger managers and directors. Others rose to become Vice-Ministers and Ministers.
Their success remains one of the most powerful demonstrations of what Local Content can achieve when it moves beyond policy and becomes practice.
So where does all of this connect to African Energy Week?
The answer is simple.
It connects through a man who is known across Africa and far beyond by his initials alone. No surname required.
I first met N.J. Ayuk in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in 2008. As they say, it was “back in the day.” A young, ambitious, and humble lawyer came knocking on my door to see whether I could help him knock on a few other doors.
What I did not fully appreciate then was that while he arrived as a friend, he also arrived carrying a vision and on a mission.
He was never short on confidence or fresh ideas. Yet equally important, he was never short on respect, humility, and good manners.
Perhaps through me a few doors opened. Perhaps through others many more did. What became increasingly apparent, however, was that some of those early ideas were finding room to grow, take root, and flourish.
Today, African Energy Week stands much like a baobab tree.
Its roots run deep across the continent. Its branches stretch far beyond it. And like the baobab, it has become a symbol of resilience, growth, opportunity, and African ambition.
Even though the phrase “Local Content” was not widely used in those early days, N.J. was advocating many of its core principles long before much of the industry was prepared to embrace them.
He believed Africans should not merely be beneficiaries of resource development. They should be full participants and partners in it. He spoke often about ensuring that his “brothers and sisters” would have a seat at the table of an industry that could help end energy poverty across the continent.
It is worth remembering that these conversations took place long before “energy poverty” became part of everyday industry vocabulary.
Back then, many of us still viewed development primarily through CSR programs, development assistance, employment opportunities, supplier contracts, and related initiatives. And to be fair, those efforts did create opportunities and inspired change. Contracts were awarded. Businesses emerged. Expatriates stepped aside while locals stepped into leadership roles as managers, directors, and decision-makers.
But for N.J., progress was not moving quickly enough.
As the lawyer that he was, he did what good lawyers often do. He challenged the system. He pushed companies to do what he believed was right. He litigated and fearlessly took on powerful entities. And in most cases, he won.
The common thread running through those legal victories was simple: the beneficiaries were local people, local businesses, and local communities.
More companies were formed. More ideas emerged. More doors opened. Barriers began to fall. Sometimes through persistence. Sometimes through frustration. Sometimes through necessity. But progress continued.
Fast forward to 2026 and African Energy Week is preparing for its sixth edition in Cape Town.
Officially, it is a conference. In reality, it is much more than that.
It is a place where Presidents and start-ups gather. It is a place where handshakes become contracts. It is a place where Africa meets the rest of the world on African soil and increasingly on African terms.
Regardless of the annual theme, one consistent thread runs through every edition: Local Content.
Whether one comes from a producing country or an importing country, whether one works in finance, government, operations, entrepreneurship, or policy, African Energy Week remains fundamentally about creating opportunities for Africans and confronting a challenge all nations share: energy poverty.
Another great strength of AEW is its embrace of the wider African diaspora.
Today, the event welcomes participation from Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and many other places whose historical and cultural connections to Africa remain strong. The conference has become a truly global platform for African voices and African opportunity.
Local Content may be represented by many flags and many definitions, but all of them ultimately point toward one simple truth: the owners of the resources should be among the primary beneficiaries of their development.
I witnessed that principle firsthand last year when I was privileged to help bring three determined Mozambican SMEs to Cape Town for African Energy Week.
They were skilled. They were capable. They were ambitious. What they lacked was access.
Because N.J. opened the door, they had the chance to participate – access granted! This year, at his continued encouragement and with the same insistence that accompanied him in Malabo in 2009, we hope to bring even more companies to Cape Town.
The same way doors were opened for him years ago in Malabo and beyond is the same way he now works to open larger doors for so many others.
That, too, is Local Content. It is not only about where people come from. It is about creating pathways for where they can go.
“Drill Baby Drill” is not simply about going deep beneath Africa’s surface or below its seas in search of resources. It is also about drilling into communities, institutions, and mindsets to uncover skills, talent, and opportunity.
This is not about how to do Local Content.
This is about how to BE Local Content.
*Ken McGhee is a senior executive and Local Content practitioner with more than 25 years of experience across Africa’s energy, infrastructure, and international development sectors. Having worked extensively in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, and Mozambique, he has dedicated much of his career to workforce development, SME growth, stakeholder engagement, and helping African businesses and communities participate more fully in the opportunities created by natural resource development.
AFRICAN ENERGY WEEK 2026
African Energy Week 2026, the sixth edition of the conference, will take place from 12–16 October 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The event brings together governments, investors, operators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, financiers, and service providers from across Africa and around the world. For those committed to Local Content, enterprise development, energy investment, and ending energy poverty, AEW remains an influential platform for partnership, dialogue, and opportunity.
*Culled from October Edition of PAV Magazine
