To meet growing energy demand on the African continent, major players in the sector will convene at the Savoy Hotel, London on October 20 and 21, 2014 for the Global African Investment Summit (TGAIS) to review the continent’s most bankable energy projects.
The summit, which is expected to be chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is seeking to direct funds from some of the world’s largest institutional investors into projects across the continent, putting a focus on Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. While Ghana will focus on renewable energy projects, Rwanda will present methane and hydropower projects, Kenya bio-fuel projects and Nigeria, gas fired project.
Industry watchers are optimistic that the diversity of energy players that will be present at the event which includes TGAIS-oil and gas, liquefied natural gas and renewable energy companies, notably Globeleq, Seplat, Greenheart Energy, Sepco and Mozambique LNG, among others, reflects the current energy demands of the continent.
ABC Orijiako, chairman of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, a leading independent and & gas exploration and production company in Nigeria, who will also be speaking at the event, said recently that there was no region with the same investment prospects that Africa presents, especially in the extractive, infrastructure and services industries because of the infrastructure gap in the continent and growing domestic demand, which, he noted, was a huge potential for investment in the energy market.
Globeleq, another leading energy company, which already has 190MW natural gas-powered operation in Tanzania, focuses on power generation in emerging markets.
Since the company’s launch in 2002, it has participated in nearly 14,000MWs in 27 countries, investing approximately US$1.3 billion of equity across 44 different power projects; while Seplat is currently operating in onshore Niger Delta basin in Nigeria. The company has a 45% participating interest in 3 oil blocks (OML’s 4, 38 and 41).
Greenheart Energy, another industry giant, is a renewable energy company that delivers renewable energy solutions involved with solar photovoltaics (PV) project in Southern Africa.
