The Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, also President of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), was speaking this Monday at the opening of the 8th Edition of the African Congress and Exhibition of Oil and Gas (CAPE VIII) under the motto "Energy Transition, Challenges and Opportunities in the African Oil and Gas Industry", which Luanda will host between this Monday and 19 May.
In his speech, the official highlighted the increase in the number of member countries, which increased from eight in 1987, to the current 15 and five observers, and encouraged the APPO's secretariat-general to intensify the campaign for accession of more oil-producing countries and gas to the organization.
"The union of all oil producers will allow a better approach and safeguard our legitimate interests", he underlined.
Therefore, during this year, in which Angola assumes the presidency of the organization, the country appeals to all APPO members "to make efforts to conclude the Long-Term Strategy, as well as the mobilization of initial capital to start of the Society for Energy Investments in Africa (AEICORP)", he declared, announcing that a memorandum of understanding with Afreximbank will be signed in this context.
AEICORP is a development finance institution created to mobilize resources for the development of the energy sector in Africa, with oil and gas, alternative energy, mining and energy as the main target sectors.
It was created by APPO countries (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa) and has an authorized capital billion dollars.
Diamantino Azevedo also pointed out the importance of the study on "The Future of the Oil and Gas Industry in Africa in the Light of the Energy Transition", whose recommendations form the basis for the elaboration of the Long-Term Strategy that will guide the APPO in the coming decades and identify among the main challenges, local content.
The minister acknowledged that the level of development of this process in oil and gas producing countries varies significantly, and the desired levels of satisfaction have not yet been reached.
"For this purpose, APPO has set up the Africa Local Content Roundtable, which aims to review policies and progress in the implementation of local content in member countries, especially in light of the global energy transition," he added.
