AEC Chair Ayuk urges stronger role for local finance in energy development

• Links local investment to tackling Africa’s $15.7bn infrastructure deficit

Onome Amuge

Leveraging African financial institutions is crucial for maximising the continent’s oil and gas potential and meeting the goal of ending energy poverty by 2030, according to NJ Ayuk, executive chairman of the African Energy Chamber (AEC). 

According to Ayuk, deploying local capital is essential to overcome Africa’s estimated $15.7 billion infrastructure gap, thereby enhancing the capacity for production, processing, and distribution of indigenous energy resources.

Speaking at the African Refiners & Distributors Association (ARDA) event in Cape Town, Ayuk argued that  leveraging the continent’s substantial pension funds , estimated at $400 billion to finance crucial oil and gas infrastructure could advance key projects like pipelines, refineries, and power generation facilities. 

He positioned such investments as vital for enhancing intra-African energy trade and directly addressing energy poverty, highlighting the stark reality that 600 million Africans lack modern energy access and 900 million lack clean cooking solutions

Ayuk further called for substantial regulatory reform across African nations, emphasizing the need to facilitate intra-African trade by easing the movement of both energy products and industry stakeholders. The African Energy Chamber Chairman also highlighted the importance of enabling infrastructure sharing across the continent. 

“How can we move commodities across the continent yet we struggle to move people?” stated Ayuk, advocating for improved visa and immigration policies to facilitate mobility for industry stakeholders and citizens.

Collaboration, rather than competition for scarce capital, represents the optimal strategy for Africa to overcome trade barriers and realise its downstream energy objectives, according to  Ayuk. 

The AEC chairman called on policymakers to foster this approach by addressing impediments like high intra-African taxes, insufficient shared infrastructure, and funding gaps. 

Beyond increased investment and policy adjustments, achieving an ‘Africa First Vision’ fundamentally requires maximising the use of every available drop of the continent’s oil and gas to power development, Ayuk stressed. 

He specifically underscored the critical role Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) must play in expanding clean cooking access, alongside natural gas providing essential baseload power for the foreseeable future.

 Concluding his remarks, Ayuk applauded the association for its continued promotion of investment in African oil and gas, acknowledging the challenges posed by the global energy transition. 

The conference, operating under the banner “Africa First: Delivering Our Energy Future,” aimed to map out strategies for bolstering energy security and driving industrial growth via increased downstream investments continent-wide.