Rene Awambeng, Managing Partner at Premier Invest, stresses the need for policy reforms to attract investment and drive energy sector growth in the Republic of Congo. Speaking at the Inaugural Congo Energy Investment Forum, Awambeng highlights the importance of improving the business environment to ensure investor confidence and long-term sustainability. He also notes that Premier Invest is actively facilitating deals, supporting infrastructure projects, and driving regional collaboration to strengthen Africa’s oil and gas industry.
Now Rene Awambeng, Managing Partner at Premier Invest, stresses the need for policy reforms to attract investment and drive energy sector growth in the Republic of Congo. Speaking at the Inaugural Congo Energy Investment Forum, he highlights the importance of improving the business environment to ensure investor confidence and long-term sustainability. He also notes that Premier Invest is actively facilitating deals, supporting infrastructure projects, and driving regional collaboration to strengthen Africa’s oil and gas industry. together and regulate us together in Brazzaville today. I think the first one is that Congo has realized that most of its assets are going down, so they need to increase their production from about 200,000 barrels a day today to about 500,000 barrels. And secondly, everybody is talking about gas, and Congo has developed a new gas master plan. So as part of improving its oil production, crude oil production, there's a new licensing round that is going to be launched this afternoon. So we need to commend the Congolese authorities for convening this very international conference and bringing together all these participants. But more importantly, we believe that to meet the objective of elevating energy poverty and attracting the right kind of investment in the Republic of Congo, Congo will need to improve the enabling business environment. It needs to improve the climate for doing business. They need to make reforms that will ensure that investors who come into Congo can see that their investments are safe and they can get it back. If you put money here, how do you get your money back with a return? So I think that is a key message which the Congolese government must take on board. As you can see today, as part of the opening ceremony, everybody has allotted to the reforms, the painful reforms that Angola needs to go through, went through. And we are inviting Congo to learn from the lessons of its brother and cousin and neighbor, which is Angola, and see the outstanding performances of Angola today. Yes, Congo can do it in the upstream sector by improving its oil production, crude production, and improving its gas production, and also in the logistics sector by helping to put new infrastructure around pipelines, around storage facilities, and even downstream distribution. All right, it's good to see that quite a lot has already been done by the country and still a lot more work to be done to get the outcomes that they desire in the oil and gas space. But I'd like to speak to your participation here, Premier Invest, at this forum. I understand there's a deal room tomorrow, and I'd like you to speak to what we can anticipate in that area and why we're looking and participating in the deal room sessions. So Premier Invest, as an indigenous African, Pan-African investment bank, is putting together the Congo Investment Forum Deal Room, which is happening tomorrow. This deal room will bring together investors, banks, financiers, and project promoters who are going to showcase various projects. We have about 15 projects in various sectors, in upstream, in pipelines, in midstream, in downstream, that we're going to showcase to potential investors. It creates an opportunity for networking. It creates an opportunity for project promoters to meet with potential investors and discuss the structures and try to take these projects to bankability. The second reason we are here is because we are advising on a number of key projects. We are supporting the construction of a new pipeline from Point Noir to Brazzaville, which will facilitate the distribution and reduce the cost of importation of petroleum products into the country. So we are quite happy to work with our partners here in the Republic of Congo, as Premier Invest, to see how we can improve the environment for not only doing business, but also to generate deals, make deals happen in this networking event, and also support with the infrastructure development of the country, working with some of our development partners and international partners. It's good that we're talking about deal making and I would like to borrow a leaf from the last session that we just had here, where a thought came through and I was really very impressed by that level of thinking. The conversation was about transnational organizations, building transnational organizations in Africa to move the needle for oil and gas production. You know, having cross-border collaboration play out here and I'd like to hear your thoughts around that and why that will be very critical as the next phase of growth in Africa's oil and gas industry. It is a very good question. We come at a time when every country, every continent is thinking first. We in Africa need to find African solutions to African problems. If you remember well, I signed on behalf of the leading Pan-African institution the first agreement with the African Petroleum Producers Organization in Luanda, Angola in 2001 to set up and create the Africa Energy Bank. The Africa Energy Bank is a multilateral development institution that will focus on financing, supporting, facilitating, promoting African oil and gas projects. I believe that the two institutions, APO and Afrexin Bank, are working very hard to ensure that this bank sees the light of day in the course of this year. All right, because now it's good that you brought the Africa Energy Bank and why that is important here because at the end of the day we need to see that African story about the oil and gas industry, you know, where it's beyond just borders, these artificial borders that separate us, but more or less maximizing what can come out of the hydrocarbon industry here in Africa. Yeah, I mean it is a time of recognition at a time when a lot of financial institutions internationally were drifting away from the narrative of supporting fossil fuels. Courageous African institutions like APO, backed by its 18 member states, and the African Export-Import Bank decided to create this bank working alongside other African financial institutions which continue to support oil and gas. And we've seen the impact of that. We've seen the impact of that in Nigeria, we've seen the impact of that in Angola, where Africa has today strengthened its capacity in refining. Capacity in Angola is going up to 450,000 barrels a day. Combined capacity in Nigeria, including Dangote refinery, is going up to more than 1.2 billion barrels per day. In Senegal, we also saw the first time when SAR, the Senegalese refinery, could actually refine Senegalese crude. You now see that all of these things are happening because African financial institutions are now supporting African projects with reality. And most of these projects are not national projects, they are cross-border projects. Dangote refinery, for example, is entering into cross-border deals, trans-border deals now with various neighbors to either procure crude or sell refined products to some of these markets. So yes, we are going to see more, not only in the refining space, we're going to see more in the infrastructure space, particularly with things like pipelines, like we see now going on the discussions on the Lobito corridor that will go to Angola, to Zambia, and possibly the DRC in Tanzania. We are seeing that happening with CABEF, which is the Central African Forum for Infrastructure, where they want to build pipelines going to all Central African states. So we're going to see more and more financing and more and more regional projects coming to support the development of African infrastructure in the oil and gas sector. All right, but finally, as we wrap up the conversation, I'd like you to speak to your biggest takeaway, because a lot has been said here today, you know, but for you, what has been that key point that stood out? You see, for me, the biggest thing today is a reset for Congo. Congo should take this as a starting point to see how it can reform its system, whether it is making a better environment for doing business, whether it is tax reforms and incentives to attract new investors to come and dynamize its upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors in oil and gas. This would help with basic things like provision of energy solutions in the country, ensure that people can access to refined products, and they can help to move from A to B, which are ongoing challenges in the country today. So the key thing for me today is let's learn from our neighbors and let's reform to attract positive investment, sustainable investment in Congo. That was Rene Awambeng, Managing Partner, Premier Invest, speaking on the need for policy reforms in Congo's oil and gas sector.
Theme: Policy reforms are essential to attract energy investments and drive growth in Congo's oil and gas sector.
In a bid to boost energy investment and drive growth in the Republic of Congo, Rene Awambeng, Managing Partner at Premier Invest, emphasized the critical need for policy reforms during the Inaugural Congo Energy Investment Forum. Awambeng highlighted the necessity of enhancing the business environment to instill investor confidence and ensure long-term sustainability in the country. Premier Invest is actively involved in facilitating deals, supporting infrastructure projects, and promoting regional collaboration to bolster Africa's oil and gas industry. The forums addressed key issues surrounding Congo's efforts to enhance oil production from 200,000 barrels per day to 500,000 barrels and the development of a new gas master plan. Additionally, the launch of a new licensing round was announced to further augment oil production. The Congolese authorities received commendation for convening this international conference, which brought together industry participants to strategize on elevating energy poverty and attracting substantial investments. However, Awambeng stressed that significant improvements in the business climate are imperative to reassure investors about the safety and profitability of their ventures. Drawing parallels with Angola's successful reforms, Awambeng urged Congo to emulate its neighbor's exemplary performance in the oil and gas sector by enhancing production and investing in infrastructure development. Premier Invest's active role in the Congo Investment Forum Deal Room aimed to connect stakeholders, including investors, financiers, and project promoters. The event showcased 15 projects across various sectors in the oil and gas industry to foster networking and facilitate discussions on project viability and financing. Moreover, Premier Invest is providing advisory support for crucial projects such as the construction of a pipeline from Pointe Noire to Brazzaville, a venture aimed at enhancing petroleum product distribution and reducing import costs. Awambeng addressed the importance of transnational collaboration in driving the next phase of growth in Africa's oil and gas industry. He highlighted the establishment of the Africa Energy Bank by the African Petroleum Producers Organization and the African Export-Import Bank to support and finance oil and gas projects across the continent. This initiative underscores the significance of African institutions in promoting regional project development and cross-border partnerships. Awambeng underscored the pivotal role of African financial institutions in supporting the oil and gas industry, emphasizing the positive impact witnessed in countries like Nigeria, Angola, and Senegal. These developments showcase the potential for cross-border initiatives in refining and infrastructure development, such as pipeline expansions across Central African states. As the discussions at the forum concluded, Awambeng emphasized the urgent need for Congo to embark on a comprehensive reform agenda to attract sustainable investments in the oil and gas sector. Emulating successful models and implementing reforms in taxation, incentives, and business environment would propel Congo towards energy security and economic progress.
"The key thing for me today is let's learn from our neighbors and let's reform to attract positive investment, sustainable investment in Congo. - Rene Awambeng, Managing Partner, Premier Invest"
['Congo Energy Investment Forum', 'oil and gas industry', 'investment', 'policy reforms', 'business environment', 'African energy projects', 'regional collaboration', 'infrastructure development', 'African financial institutions']