Africa Oil Governance Summit (AOGS) is the flagship programme of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP). Instituted in 2015, AOGS has convened annually in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The main goal of the summit is to address pertinent governance and development issues pertaining to the management and use of oil and gas resources across the Africa. Thus, AOGS creates an avenue for, and brings together, stakeholders in and outside the oil and gas industry across Africa and beyond to deliberate on efficient and effective approaches to engender sustainable and inclusive development through the exploitation of Africa’s oil and gas resources.
This year, the Summit will bring together experts across the globe to deliberate on the effective strategies African governments can adopt to leverage on the opportunities presented for optimal development of upstream petroleum with the operationalization of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The focus of the dialogue will also be extended to explore strategies to scale up Africa’s efforts to benefit from the energy transition through AfCFTA. In this edition, ACEP is partnering with AB & David Africa, a reputable and an award winning law firm with practice in diverse areas across the continent to ensure a successful convening and an effective dialogue. Their extensive work in the Free Trade Area, and vast experience and resource in the energy industry across Africa promises to advance the objectives of this edition of the Summit.
The summit seeks to provide a platform to discuss policy actions and critical strategies required to maximize the opportunities AfCFTA is expected to present to the oil and gas industry, and encourage actions from African governments and key actors to optimize the gains from oil and gas resources across the region.
Specifically, the 2021 Africa Oil Governance Summit seeks to achieve the following objectives:
- Provide the platform for a regional conversation on the opportunities and the challenges AfCFTA presents to Africa’s oil and gas industry.
- Discuss the policy and institutional reforms required for the industry to fully take advantage of the opportunities expected from AfCFTA.
- Discuss how AfCFTA cancontribute to Africa’s just transition to cleaner energy.
- Explore the roles and strategic approaches that state and regional institutions and CSOs could adopt to sustain and maximize the potential gains presented by AfCFTA.
ACEP will collaborate with experts to, based on key points from the Summit, develop a policy document that outlines critical pathways for governments’ policy actions and private sector strategies to harness the opportunities AfCFTA is expected to present for Africa’s oil and gas sector.
Africa governments, businesses and accountability institutions will adopt the policy propositions and leverage on AfCFTA to optimally develop the energy sector across the continent.
The Summit is structured into panel discussions and presentation of a technical paper. Panel discussants and moderators are carefully selected from different backgrounds to reflect a balance between government, industry, academia, civil society, international community, and gender.
A minimum of 200 participants are expected to attend the 2021 Summit each day. Participants will be drawn from the following groups:
- Government Ministries
- Oil and Gas Industry experts
- International Oil and Gas Companies
- National Oil/Gas Companies
- Government Ministries and Agencies
- Regional and International Economic Institutions
- Private sector players within and outside the oil and gas industry
- Trade experts
- Management Consulting and Advisory Companies
- Industry Regulators
- Financial Institutions
- Accountability Institutions
- Heads of Missions of Embassies in Ghana
- Civil Society Organizations
- Traditional Authorities
- Development Partners
- International Think Tanks/NGOs
- Academia
- Media
The speakers for this year’s summit have been drawn from different countries with a great track record in governance, the petroleum sector, oil and gas and the total management of natural resources. Last year’s speakers share some similarities with this year’s speakers. However because of the different theme, most are new. They are not only dynamic in their area of expertise, but wield extraordinary knowledge which when tapped into, will go a long way in shaping our developmental process toward excellence.
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