One Continent, One Voice, one goal: Developing our resources to Build the Africa and Sector We All Want

This past week in Freetown was nothing short of transformational and inspiring. Working closely with His Excellency Rtd Brigadier Dr. Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone, and the Hon. Minister Julius Daniel Mattai, Minister of Mines, I was reminded of the extraordinary potential Africa holds for us all. And that’s not just beneath its soil, but in its people, its vision, and its collective power to shape its own future. Within our meetings we had some inspiring men and women who clearly hold the key and vision to our future success as a continent. We also had the privilege of seeing some amazing school children set out their knowledge of the natural resource space and remind us of what the future holds from kids as young as 9 and 10 surrounding energy development and our sector.

It was a powerful moment to stand alongside such visionary leadership, men who have dedicated years to reforming and revitalising both the regional and domestic natural resource sector, making Africa and Sierra Leone a beacon of what’s possible when leadership, policy, and purpose align. I witnessed not only economic progress but a deep sense of optimism, a belief that Sierra Leone is ready to rise, and, with it, help inspire a broader African movement grounded in prosperity, inclusion, and progress.

Leadership, Reform, and the Rise of a New Era

What impressed me most this week was not just the tremendous economic opportunity on the horizon, but the foundation that’s been laid to seize it. Years of policy reform under President Maada Bio and Minister Mattai have opened the door for investment, strengthened regulatory frameworks, and created a stable, competitive environment. These reforms are transformative, they are changing lives through strong leadership and policy, and Hon. Minister Mattai went on to cementing that theory when he set out the amazing work the private sector had done and then contributed to local communities with $Millions USD to build rural infrastructure, great work was really unfolding before us at our conference – This is exactly what we can achieve together. They are the building blocks for a new era of natural resource development, one that places Sierra Leone at the heart of Africa’s future.

But beyond the regulatory wins, what struck me was their shared commitment to doing this the right way, with people at the centre, with communities as partners, and with long-term sustainability as the goal. Their leadership is a reminder that when we lead with purpose, we lead with power.

Oil, Gas and Mining: A Shared Destiny

Across Africa, oil and gas and mining are too often treated as parallel tracks. But the reality is, these sectors are connected at every level, from infrastructure and logistics to investment risks and environmental impact. We cannot build a prosperous Africa in silos. We must unite our sectors, our regions, and our strategies.

Whether it’s hydrocarbons off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Ghana, or the mineral continuing to deliver for DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the opportunities before us are immense. But so is the urgency. The global energy transition is accelerating, and with it comes a shrinking window of time for African oil and gas, in short, we must become competitive and ensure we attract every last dollar to our continent today! Time is no longer on our side from the perspective of investors and peak oil. We can argue all we want about when peak oil may come, and we can have long discussions about the global north transition. But for me now is the time to make it all happen, now is the time we must ensure we are at the centre of every investment discussion and now is the time given the durations of projects to break ground that we must be signing deals and agreements to ensure the security of our sector and regional prosperity tomorrow. If oil and gas is our commodity, then time surely is our currency, and we cannot afford to waste it and miss utilizing the commodity itself.

We must move from talk to action. We must move from opinion to execution. We must come together, not as individual nations or sectors, but as one voice and movement for Africa and the sector to thrive in harmony and equitably, one united front ready to cement out future through our natural resources. A win for private sector, a win for the region and a win for the communities in which they operate

Inclusion: Our Greatest Competitive Advantage

In our discussions in Freetown, one topic came up repeatedly: inclusiveness and community. How do we ensure that resource development is not just profitable but meaningful? How do we ensure that the wealth generated from our natural endowment is equitable, so our partners continue, and we build more local content. How do we make sure revenues don’t just leave, but stays to build schools, powering homes, creating jobs, and nurturing dreams? But how do we build the Africa we want and have a competitive sector which attracts global capital, builds regional capacity and develops economic activity and jobs.

The answer lies in inclusion. It lies in co-creating our future with the very people who live closest to the resources we seek to develop in partnership with our investors and international and domestic operators. This isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.

Regional Unity: A Movement, Not Just a Market

The time has come for Africa to move past talk, we have so much human resource on continent that can lead us into more prosperity. Not only that but we do have great international partners who also commit huge investments into resource development (Natural and People), so it’s not just as a continent, let’s move as a community both African and international to achieve our goals as quickly and as sustainably as possible. Our individual success stories must become collective success. We must break down silos that divide our opportunity. We must harmonise the regulations, build the infrastructure and realise the potential rather than acknowledge it.

We are stronger together. Stronger when Angola supports Ghana. Stronger when Sierra Leone partners with Namibia. This is not competition, it’s collaboration. And it is our greatest strength. The AFRIPERF meeting in AOW: Investing in African Energy for me is groundbreaking and my hat comes off to Petroleum Commission, Ghana , Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and all the contributors to the Charter. I also had the great pleasure of meeting Petroleum Commission Gambia, Gambia National Petroleum Corporation and the Hon Minister Nani Jawara in Banjul last week and it is clear the policy makers around the continent also agree that a united and standardised approach to success is the key – I will tell you more about the exciting news from Banjul in a later post.

Let us use platforms like AOW:Energy to amplify this message and turn global and regional ambition into continental action for joint success and true partnership. Let’s break down barriers and bring leaders together for the good of the region. Let us create our own transition. But our transition will be from talk shops and roundtables to roadmaps and delivery. Join the AOW:Energy movement for inclusive and united success for our continent and our sector.

AOW:Energy 2025 – A Platform for Purpose

As we look ahead to AOW:Energy 2025, I feel an overwhelming sense of possibility. This event will become a niche. It will become a trusted platform, it will be a practical meeting point for success, deals and change and business purpose for the energy and upstream sectors.

At AOW:Energy 2025, we will showcase upstream opportunities. We will discuss policy and regulatory frameworks to try and drive more capital and partnerships. But more importantly, we will build alignment across sectors, across regions, and across networks for growth and change via investment in the upstream.

Let’s use this platform to fast-track upstream deals, unlock our potential as investors and policy makers, and support infrastructure corridors that fuel trade and prosperity. Let’s build an African investment ecosystem that speaks the language of inclusion, sustainability, and acceleration.

Let us remember that every missed conversation, every delayed project, every fragmented effort costs us time. And time is the one thing we cannot afford to lose. Let us unite across oil, gas, and mining. Let us execute on our ideas. Let us speak with one voice. Let us move with one purpose.

Together, we can build the industrialised, inclusive, and prosperous Africa we all want though unity and investment via a network you can trust in to put your objective first.