Thought Leadership Article — The New Era of African Upstream Intelligence

Africa’s upstream landscape is undergoing a profound shift. With Majors reshaping portfolios and Independents now playing an increasingly central role across the continent, competitive intelligence has become essential to understanding and winning in Africa’s upstream.

At the heart of this transformation lies the need for timely, data-rich analysis: well results, M&A activity, cost structures, portfolio shifts, and operator strategies. Without this level of granularity, companies risk missing opportunities or entering plays too late.

That is why AOW:Energy has partnered with Welligence, a company globally recognised for its high-fidelity upstream data and benchmarking. Their intelligence spans:

• Africa’s hottest drilling campaigns
• Operator strategy evolution
• Asset-level economics & break evens
• M&A positioning & competitive dynamics
• Future exploration targets & emerging basins

For explorationists, commercial teams and investors, this partnership means unprecedented clarity into Africa’s upstream future.

Africa’s next upstream wave will be driven by those who understand not only where drilling is happening, but why, and how portfolios are being reshaped in a shifting energy world.

Meet us at AOW:Energy 2026 to engage directly with over 1,500 global energy CEOs, senior exploration leaders, and the brightest minds shaping Africa’s upstream.

Paul Sinclair, CEO, AOW:Energy:
“Welligence brings unrivalled clarity to the African upstream market, and our partnership will equip AOW delegates with the insight needed to make better, faster, and more strategic decisions. Together, we are raising the bar for upstream intelligence in Africa.”

Mr. Obo Idornigie, Welligence:
“Partnering with AOW:Energy enables us to put high-quality, real-time analytics directly into the hands of the decision-makers shaping Africa’s upstream future. We look forward to an impactful collaboration.”