Author: Imara Mbuyi

Record investment reshapes Africa’s hydrocarbon map A fresh cycle of capital expenditure is sweeping through Africa’s upstream sector. Independent consultancy projections see spending cresting at some USD 41 billion by 2026, an outlay expected to propel liquid hydrocarbons to 11.4 million barrels per day and markedly expand gas supply. The renewed appetite for exploration and project sanctioning follows successive price shocks and a reinvigorated focus on energy security across the continent. Governments and operators alike are seeking to monetise resources quickly, with particular attention to liquefied natural gas, value-adding midstream assets and local power plants that reduce costly imports of…

A strategic pivot toward inclusive energy access The Republic of Congo’s quest for universal electricity has reached a decisive juncture. On 1 December in Brazzaville, the United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative, Adama Dian Barry, urged national private-sector leaders to rally behind the Rural Electrification Programme, known by its French acronym PEZOR. Speaking at a working luncheon jointly organised with the Ministry of Energy and Hydraulics, she framed the initiative as a catalyst for economic diversification and social cohesion, asserting that “energy in adequate quantity and quality is a public good that underpins every value chain” (UNDP Congo statement). PEZOR’s…

Brazzaville Sets the Stage for Renewed US Capital The marble corridors of the Hydrocarbons Ministry in downtown Brazzaville were unusually animated on 25 November as Minister Bruno Jean Richard Itoua welcomed Amanda Jacobsen, chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the United States embassy. The encounter, described by both parties as productive, placed the reinforcement of bilateral energy cooperation at the heart of their agenda. Jacobsen left little room for ambiguity, declaring Washington’s readiness to scale up investments across the Congolese oil and gas value chain. Her statement echoes the Congolese authorities’ broader ambition to position the country as a reliable, competitive…

Strategic electricity link reaches Ewo For the first time since the creation of the département of Cuvette-Ouest in 1999, households and small businesses in its capital, Ewo, can count on a stable supply of grid electricity. President Denis Sassou Nguesso formally energised the 30/110 kV distribution substation on 25 November, a moment the Head of State described as “a tangible dividend of our accelerated municipalisation programme” (Presidency communiqué, 25 Nov 2025). The substation is connected to the national backbone running northwards from Brazzaville through Boundji, eliminating reliance on costly diesel generators and sporadic solar kits. Accelerated municipalisation bears fruit Launched…

Strategic inspection along the Pointe-Noire—Brazzaville axis Standing beneath the pylons of Loudima, in Bouenza, Energy and Hydraulics Minister Emile Ouosso chose to take the measure of works that are quietly reshaping the electrical spine linking Pointe-Noire to the capital. His mission, carried out with a compact delegation of engineers and financiers, consisted in what he called “a first-hand evaluation of the rehabilitation and reinforcement of the transport network”. The site visit marks the Government’s deliberate follow-through on its commitment to modernise infrastructure connecting the country’s two largest cities—an artery whose original components date back to 1982. Eni Congo’s civil works…

Johannesburg forum places Africa’s agenda at the centre When South Africa assumes the G20 presidency in 2025, the customary host-city communiqués will carry an unmistakably African inflection. A foretaste arrives on 21 November in Johannesburg, where the African Energy Chamber will convene heads of diplomacy, regulators and financiers for the G20 Africa Energy Investment Forum. The flagship plenary, Defining Pragmatic Policies for Energy Addition in Africa, is expected to translate continental aspirations—universal electricity access and low-carbon industrialisation—into regulatory language that reassures capital markets and development partners alike (African Energy Chamber, 2023). Energy security: the unvarnished arithmetic Hard numbers frame the…

Strategic Gatherings in Kintélé Reinforce Unity From 31 October to 4 November 2025, the riverside conference centre of Kintélé became the diplomatic heart of Africa’s oil industry. The twenty-fifth statutory session of the APPO Executive Council and the forty-eighth Council of Ministers assembled delegates from the organisation’s eighteen member states, a constellation that together accounts for almost half of the continent’s proven crude reserves (APPO communiqué, 1 Nov. 2025). Presiding over the proceedings, Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua opened the deliberations by commending the “spirit of unity and professionalism” that has allowed the once-understated institution to gain strategic…

A Record-Breaking Memorandum The corridors of Gaborone’s Ministry of Minerals and Energy seldom witness signatures of the magnitude affixed on 6 November. By committing 5.5 billion US dollars over seven years, the Government of Botswana and Turkey’s Ulsan Holding endorsed what officials describe as the largest single private-public energy partnership in the country’s history (Botswana Ministry of Minerals and Energy, 7 November). Sitting beside Minister Bogolo Joy Kenewendo, Ulsan president Fatih Gülsün declared that the accord “cements Botswana’s rise as a reliable power hub in Southern Africa”. The memorandum, co-signed by executives from Mercuria Energy Trading, IGI and Tfgl, spans…

Scientific Diplomacy in Brazzaville The glittering conference hall of the Centre d’excellence d’Oyo momentarily shifted the geopolitical centre of Central Africa on 3 November. Flanked by researchers in white coats and diplomats in dark suits, Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso pressed the symbolic switch that brought the Réseau pour la recherche sur la transition énergétique en Afrique centrale (ReTEAC) to life. The gesture carried more than ceremonial weight: it expressed a shared resolve among member states of the Economic Community of Central African States to anchor the energy transition in peer-reviewed science rather than slogans. Officials from Burundi, Cameroon, the…

Brazzaville Summit Signals Continental Momentum From 31 October to 4 November 2025 Brazzaville became the epicentre of African hydrocarbon diplomacy as the eighteen member states of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (Appo) gathered for their end-of-year Executive Council and Ministerial Council. Under the chairmanship of Congo’s Minister of Hydrocarbons, Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, delegations assessed the organisation’s trajectory since its 1987 founding in Nigeria and agreed on priorities for 2026. The atmosphere was resolutely forward-looking: delegates portrayed the global energy transition not as an existential threat but as an inflection point that could consolidate African autonomy, provided that financing and…