By Antonio Oburu Ondo, Minister of Hydrocarbons and Mineral Development, Equatorial Guinea 

ExxonMobil has concluded its operations in Equatorial Guinea after almost three decades, fulfilling its intention, stated in 2022, to leave when its licenses expired.  

The departure of the American giant marks the close of a significant chapter in our Country’s petroleum history — one which brought us into OPEC membership. It also opens a promising new chapter. 

ExxonMobil’s Achievements in Equatorial Guinea  
ExxonMobil’s presence has done much to benefit our nation’s economy and our people’s quality of life.  

Mobil Corporation’s discoveries in Equatorial Guinea in the mid-1990s, followed by Exxon’s acquisition of Mobil, resulted in an unprecedented petroleum boom for the country, with the leading impetus for the escalation coming from Exxon’s Zafiro field.  

The boom gave us what Energy Voice termed “one of the highest rates of gross domestic product per capita in Africa.” Along with this tremendous growth in GDP came Equatorial Guinea’s 2017 full OPEC membership, fortifying our status within the industry. 

ExxonMobil’s work here has also helped open Equatorial Guinea for investment from other oil and gas majors and independent companies, including Chevron, Marathon Oil, Kosmos Energy, Panoro, EG LNG, Africa Oil Corporation, Trident Energy, etc. 

During its tenure in Equatorial Guinea, ExxonMobil emphasized training and employing local residents for existing and future projects. It has long focused on assisting economic growth and improving quality of life in countries where it operates, including our country. For example, ExxonMobil Foundation’s Malaria-fighting initiatives, begun in 2000, have provided funding for research, the delivery of bed nets to prevent mosquito bites, the administration of antimalarial treatments, and the distribution of rapid diagnostic kits. ExxonMobil also supported the Grassroots Soccer program, which delivers a malaria prevention and sports curriculum in Equatorial Guinea. 

Nor has ExxonMobil stopped with helping humans. It has provided considerable support for the Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP) for more than 15 years. The BBPP brought Drexel University and the National University of Equatorial Guinea together as research partners to protect our wealth of wild animal species, from gorillas to chimpanzees, elephants to leopards. 

As part of its BBPP efforts, which include cultural and learning programs, ExxonMobil also funded the creation of the Moka Research Center, the region’s first scientific field station. This facility educates locals about safeguarding indigenous species and hosts students and other visitors, from researchers to eco-tourists. 

In short, ExxonMobil leaves a trail of positive impacts to Equatorial Guinea as it departs, plus inspiration for potential future impacts by new industry partners. 

Transition of Operations to GEPetrol 
The transfer of oilfield assets from Exxon to our national oil company, GEPetrol, as operator, has been a seamless one, with Exxon seeing to the safe transfer for all parties concerned. 

The transition marks the beginning of a new and exciting era for GEPetrol and Equatorial Guinea. Having held the position of Managing Director of GEPetrol, I can speak from experience about its capacity to grow the country’s petroleum production. 

So, with growth in mind, our national oil company will be moving into a new stage of production and exploration, that shall include the important redevelopment of Zafiro Field. As we do so, we’ll be working with independents like Kosmos Energy, Africa Oil Corp., Panoro Energy, Trident Energy, as well as Chevron and Marathon Oil, EG LNG (liquefied natural gas), to build a world-class hydrocarbon sector.  

Not only will we be providing energy to meet international demand, but we will also be meeting the needs of our own population. 

The Gas Mega Hub and Our New Petroleum Agenda 
Equatorial Guinea’s oil and gas reserves are of an absolute importance.   

To access, process, and transport those reserves, we are prioritizing drilling campaigns and the establishment of our offshore Gas Mega Hub (GMH). With the GMH, we gain the ability to move our production to regional and global markets and employ it for our own industries and manufacturing.  

The hub’s output can also provide in-country poverty relief and climate improvement — propelling economic growth and providing fuel for clean cooking. 

The centerpiece of the GMH is Punta Europa Park on Bioko Island, which features a 3.7 million metric tonnes per annum (MMtpa) LNG plant and a 1.1 MMtpa methanol plant. Gas supply to the park came from Marathon Oil until 2021, when Noble’s gas resources from its Alen field began supplementing it, followed by tail gas from Marathon Alba field in 2023.  

I am glad to announce that more supply is on the way. In August of this year, Equatorial Guinea signed a bilateral agreement with Nigeria to jointly construct the Gulf of Guinea Gas Pipeline Project to supply gas feedstock to the GMH.  

We have also signed an agreement with Cameroon to jointly develop oil and gas fields along our shared coastal borders. This agreement, too, aims to supply the GMH and help raise Equatorial Guinea’s status as a regional hub for industry infrastructure. 

Developments like these under our Mega Hub initiative mean that, as the Africa Energy Chamber has stated, “The country is well on its way to becoming a global oil and gas hub.” 

Zafiro Field 
As new operator of the highly potential Zafiro field, GEPetrol is pursuing plans to increase the field’s production. Development there is stated to start at the opening of 2025, with three phases to be executed within the year. 

Pivotal to this effort will be GEPetrol’s technical services contracts with third parties. The agreements will provide services to onshore support bases; a unit for production, storage, and offloading. Engaging more service companies and financial institutions to improve production in this field, it is process we are already tackling. 

Near the Zafiro field, PSCs recently signed an agreement with Chevron for development of previous ExxonMobil holdings — blocks EG-06 and EG-11 — which will also contribute to reinvigorating our country’s hydrocarbons industry.  

Making Investment in Hydrocarbons Attractive 
The ministry is putting measures in place to boost profitability for investors. A group of fiscal reforms that have taken effect this year include:  

A corporate income tax reduction from 35% to 25% 
A dividend tax reduction from 25% to 10% 
Enhanced security for American investors via improved returns. 

We will not stop there. We are committed to reviewing our hydrocarbons laws and regulations implement something that is better and modern. By designing a world-class fiscal regime, we can stabilize the market and attract hydrocarbon investors into the country.  

Our domestic processing infrastructure is an added attraction for investors looking for a good ROI.  

As we have stated before, the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Mineral Development will remain “available to all investors, current and potential, in order to continue strengthening confidence in the sector and among its actors. This open-door policy has yielded good results and taken oil and gas blocks out of our shelves. More blocks are to be taken out”.  

The government is going to continue being a friend and a facilitator of its investors. 

Minister Antonio Oburu Ondo will participate at African Energy Week: Invest in African Energy 2024 – scheduled for 4-8 November in Cape Town. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

Prolonged conflict, serious human rights abuses and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law are unleashing grave suffering on internally displaced Congolese and refugees, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned today.

The warning follows a humanitarian assessment visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including the capital, Kinshasa, and eastern provinces, by the agency’s top refugee protection official, Ms. Ruven Menikdiwela – UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.

In the first half of 2024 alone, more than 940,000 people were forced to flee the violence perpetrated by a multitude of non-state armed groups. Many of those forced to flee have been displaced several times. The number of internally displaced people in DRC currently stands at more than 6.4 million people.

“I am extremely concerned about the forgotten but devastating plight facing civilians in the DRC. It is a travesty that atrocities continue to confront this long-suffering civilian population and that even in their quest for safety, they face a litany of human rights violations,” said Menikdiwela.

Three displaced people were killed in the crossfire and another 21 injured in the early hours of 26 September as the Lushagala displacement site, just outside of Goma, was ripped apart by violence. The clashes between various armed actors, using heavy weapons, lasted some five hours.    

In North Kivu alone this year, there have been nearly 20 such security incidents affecting displacement sites. By the end of August, UNHCR protection monitors had identified more than 71,200 victims of human rights abuses.

“I have spoken with displaced women and men in Ituri and North Kivu provinces. They have witnessed and experienced unimaginable horrors – killings, detention, kidnapping, extorsion, and recruitment of their children by armed groups. Women and girls, in particular, are faced with an unbearable situation – their bodies are a battle ground.”

Menikdiwela warned that gender-based violence is widespread and sexual violence is systematically used by parties to the conflict at an unprecedented scale.

According to data gathered by the gender-based violence (GBV) Area of Responsibility in DRC, in North Kivu alone gender-based violence was reported in significantly higher numbers in the first half of this year (27,328) than for the same period in 2023 (20,771). Alarmingly, 63 per cent of those are of rape. UNHCR teams are increasingly observing displaced women and girls resorting to harmful coping mechanisms, including selling sex to survive and making dangerous forays into conflict zones in search of food and firewood. In many remote locations, humanitarian access is cut off or resources and assistance are scarce. Access to justice also remains limited, and survivors fear retaliation and social marginalization.

Menikdiwela called on all parties to urgently make the well-being of civilians, including displaced people, the priority, by ensuring the humanitarian and civilian nature of displacement sites is guaranteed and that safe passage for displaced populations is restored.

Overcrowding and worsening sanitary conditions in displacement sites have in recent weeks raised deep concern amongst humanitarian actors that displaced populations may face increased exposure to disease, including the virulent mpox virus.

During her mission, the Assistant High Commissioner also met with the Prime Minister and the Vice Prime Minister in charge of Home Affairs, in addition to provincial authorities and humanitarian partners.

She conveyed UNHCR’s commitment to continue working with the authorities to assist, protect and seek solutions for the forcibly displaced. “It is abundantly clear that peace is the most sustainable and durable of solutions and is urgently needed,” Menikdiwela added.

“What I saw also gives a reason for hope. There is a strong commitment by the various actors to seek solutions. I visited internally displaced families who have benefited from local integration schemes, building their homes, establishing small businesses and contributing positively to their new communities. Authorities have played a key role here, and these efforts must be scaled up,” said Menikdiwela.

UNHCR is also calling for additional support and funding from the international community. As of 31 August 2024, UNHCR had received just 37 per cent of the $250 million required to meet the needs of displaced people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Haiti has become the 12th Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state to accede the partnership agreement between and among CARICOM countries and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com). 

During a ceremony on September 25 at the Haitian Investment Forum, held on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti, the Honourable Dr. Garry Conille, and the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah, signed the documents formalising Haiti’s accession to the partnership. 

Introduced by the Bank in 2022 following the African Union’s 2008 resolution designating the Diaspora as the sixth region of Africa, the Partnership Agreement recognises that Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora share deep historical, cultural, and political ties, as well as a sense of common identity. It therefore seeks to promote the Global Africa agenda, which includes the expansion of two-way trade and investment between Africa and its Diaspora, to stimulate economic development. 

With Haiti’s signature, 12 of the 15 CARICOM member states have now acceded to the Partnership Agreement, with nine of them concluding its ratification. The move paves the way for both public and private sector institutions in the country to access the US$1.5bn financing limit approved by Afreximbank’s Board to support projects and trade related transactions in the region. This limit is set to double once all the CARICOM member states join the partnership agreement. 

At the event, Afreximbank announced plans to institute a US$ 250 million facility to support the rebuilding of the Haitian economy.   

In his comments, Haiti’s Prime Minister Honourable Dr. Garry Conille said: “It is with immense gratitude that we receive your announcement today of a US$250 million facility for Haiti. This is a decisive and impactful gesture that holds the promise of revitalisation for our economy and renewal for our people. This facility will allow us to address some of the most pressing challenges we face, from infrastructure and energy to agriculture and manufacturing. It will also serve as a catalyst for unlocking the potential that exists within our nation — potential that has long been stifled but never extinguished.”  

He added that the facility was a concrete step towards regaining Haiti’s rightful place in the global economy, noting that it would create the right conditions for Haiti to ‘once again stand tall,’ contributing not only to the region but to the wider world.   

In his remarks, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, said: 

“I express deep and sincere gratitude to the Prime Minister of Haiti, The Honourable Dr. Garry Conille, for his courage and demonstrated commitment to advancing trade and investment relations between Africa and Haiti, and the Caribbean region in general. Haiti’s accession to this Partnership Agreement marks another historic move towards enhanced Afri-Caribbean cooperation thereby helping to propel the Global Africa agenda towards a more prosperous future.” 

Following the introduction of the Partnership Agreement with Caribbean countries, Afreximbank has hosted three editions of its AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) in the region and established its regional office in Barbados. In just under two years, the multilateral Bank has provided more than US$2.5 billion in funding across the CARICOM, targeting key areas such as infrastructure development, climate adaptation projects, SME financing, among others. 

In June, the Bank hosted its 2024 Annual Meetings in The Bahamas, a historic event that brought together more than 4,000 people from across the globe. The event also doubled as the third ACTIF and served as one of the high-level events by Afreximbank to demonstrate the Global Africa movement. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

Media Contacts: 
Vincent Musumba 
Communications and Events Manager (Media Relations) 
Email: press@afreximbank.com 

About Afreximbank:
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (together, “the Group”). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. 

For more information, visit: www.Afreximbank.com 

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With sizable offshore oil and gas reserves, abundant solar and wind resources and opportunities in agriculture, mining and infrastructure development, the MSGBC region has emerged as a premier investment destination. With a focus on sustainable development, the region is witnessing an influx of investor interest due to good governance, tax benefits and favorable legislative and regulatory legislation.

This year’s MSGBC Oil, Gas&Power 2024 conference – taking place in Dakar from December 3-4 – will feature a strong lineup of speakers in the fields of energy, finance and strategic consulting. Set to participate in informative and compelling discussions around the development of the region’s energy resources, speakers include representatives from global consultancy groups including the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Resolve36 and GeoPartners.

Explore opportunities, foster partnerships and stay at the forefront of the MSGBC region’s oil, gas and power sector. Visit www.MSGBCOilGasAndPower.com to secure your participation at the MSGBC Oil, Gas&Power 2024 conference. To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com.

In collaboration with the private sector, the DFC has invested more than $10 billion across sub-Saharan Africa to date. In May, the organization mobilized $414 million for the development of the Western Area Power Generation Project, in collaboration with the government of Sierra Leone. The project represents the first utility-scale power generation facility in the country and will meet up to 45% of Sierra Leone’s power demand. As such, Adou Touré, Africa Investment Advisor for Francophone West and Central Africa at the DFC, is set to engage financiers and policymakers in investment advisory and business development during MSGBC 2024.

Specializing in the transition to low-carbon economies, Resolve36 Founder and CEO Justin Dargin will lead discussions on the role of transitional energy and strategies for unlocking sustainable growth opportunities. Upcoming LNG projects in the MSGBC region are expected to fuel exports and power generation facilities across West Africa. Major projects include the cross-border Greater Tortue Ahmeyim development, the Senegalese Yakaar-Teranga gas field, Mauritania’s BirAllah gas field and Ivory Coast’s Baleine deepwater oil and gas field.

Meanwhile, the region is spearheading upstream exploration efforts, with significant oil and gas discoveries and frontier acreage driving interest and investment. In May this year, GeoPartners – in partnership with the state-owned Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone – introduced a legacy 2D seismic dataset to the market, which aims to attract investment in offshore exploration. As such, GeoPartners Consultant Ben Sayers is expected to offer insight into the geological characteristics of the region’s offshore areas at this year’s event, setting the stage for future exploration initiatives.

“This strong slate of speakers from global organizations underscores MSGBC 2024’s commitment to fostering informed discussions around sustainable energy development in the region. Their combined expertise will provide invaluable insights into the opportunities and challenges shaping West Africa, while fostering collaboration with industry leaders across the entire energy sphere,” states Energy Capital&Power International Conference Director, Sandra Jeque.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital&Power.