The African Energy Chamber (AEC) has reiterated its stance on the need for more investments in oil and gas explorations across the continent.
This reasoning by the AEC is founded on the idea that the world is experiencing a crisis in energy provision and not a scarcity of energy itself.
While addressing the delegates at the ARPEL Conference 2026 held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Executive Chairman of the AEC, NJ Ayuk, appealed for more focus on energy generation amid growing energy poverty as over 600 million Africans lack access to electricity, with almost one billion individuals lacking energy-efficient cooking methods.
“‘Africa needs energy addition, not energy subtraction,’ emphasized Ayuk, emphasizing that the two sources of energy are important for economic growth and industrialization on the African continent.”
While boasting an excess of 125 billion barrels of crude oil reserves as well as 620 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas reserves, Africa is still grappling with the problem of energy deficiency due to poor infrastructure and lack of investment in the sector.
According to Ayuk, there are efforts underway in countries like Nigeria and Angola to increase production by way of exploration activities and brownfields developments. The new entrants, including Namibia, Mozambique and Tanzania, are also getting investments with similar intentions.”
He indicated that low levels of investments in oil and gas as a result of the global energy transition policies might affect the pace of development in Africa, which continues to have millions of people without energy access.
Also, the AEC chair gave examples of the successes made in Latin America countries such as Brazil, Guyana, and Argentina through continued investments in oil and gas resources.
He was certain that the growth of energy production was key for development, employment, and improved standards of living in Africa
