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Malabo hosts African Petroleum Producers’ Organization ninth congress in 2024
Equatorial Guinea capital Malabo will host the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) in 2024.
The announcement was made by the APPO head during the closing of the eighth African Petroleum Congress and Exhibition (CAPE VIII) held in Angola capital Luanda from May 16 -19.
The APPO (formerly called the African Petroleum Producers’ Association, APPA) was established on January 27, 1987 in Lagos, Nigeria, to serve as a platform for cooperation and harmonization of efforts, collaboration, sharing of knowledge and expertise among African oil producing countries.
The Headquarters of the Organization is in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
Countries such as Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Côte d’Ivoire are members of the APPO.
Other members include Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and South Africa.
Mr Diamantino de Azevedo also told participants that the ongoing energy transition process required African oil and gas producing countries to find solutions to four major challenges.
These are oil and gas, creating domestic markets, innovation and technology, and developing human resource capacity, Mr Azevedo explained.
“Development of local content, one of the issues discussed at the event, requires a combination of efforts from all sectors of economic activity with the aim of creating centres of excellence in research and development, promoting cooperation and exchange of experiences between African countries”.
Collaboration between companies, universities and other relevant institutions for this industry is also important for this aim, the APPO head added.
Mr Azevedo, who is also Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, encouraged African oil-producing countries to carry out projects that minimise greenhouse gas emissions as well as to approve laws and regulations that require oil companies to develop technologies to reduce or neutralise carbon footprints and implement plans to combat pollution.
The signing of a memorandum of understanding between APPO and EXIMBANK is one of the high points of the congress and according the APPO head.
It marks the beginning of a strategic partnership to create an African bank to finance the energy industry on the continent and should be strongly supported by African countries with a view to its immediate operation.
Angola President João Lourenço urged at the opening of the event, the need to avoid the “immediate and hasty end” of fossil fuels, as the economies of African oil producing countries, “depend heavily” on revenues from these important natural products, as well as the fact that the continent faces a high level of energy poverty.
