Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, President of the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) has repeated their commitment to work with Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other organisations to deliver a sustainable oil and gas industry.

He also mentioned other collaborators as African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and the African Union Commission (AUC).

He said the industry would be focused on delivering cleaner fuels and value-added petroleum products via a lower-carbon footprint. 

Dr. Abdul-Hamid was speaking as a co-Chairman at the third High-Level Meeting of the OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue held on 19th February, 2024, in Cairo, Egypt.

The Meeting was co-chaired by Haitham Al Ghais, Secretary General of the OPEC,  Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy of the AUC, and Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General of APPO.

Building on the successful meetings held in 2021 and 2023, participants conducted open and transparent discussions on a wide array of key topics related to energy and oil, including energy security, risk of underinvestment, climate change, and energy transitions.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid also shared ARDA’s objective of developing a consolidated register of investable energy infrastructure projects that would be shared at the first-ever ARDA Investment Forum to be held during the 2024 ARDA Week in Cape Town from 22-26 April 2024. 

He also looked forward to working with APPO to support the successful take-off of the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) this year and providing bankable downstream projects for the laudable AEB initiative in the drive to meet Africa’s growing petroleum products demand sustainably.

He congratulated OPEC for its continued leadership in promoting the OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue.

In his remarks, Al Ghais indicated that dialogue with Africa was a key pillar in OPEC’s global energy dialogue programme, which included many other key regions, countries, and international organizations. “We at OPEC firmly believe that cooperation and dialogue among all energy stakeholders are absolutely essential factors in effectively addressing our common energy challenges”, he said.

He noted that in terms of climate change and energy transitions, developing countries around the world, including those in Africa, continued to balance priorities between the dire need to support the development of their national economies, while also adapting to ever-shifting dynamics related to climate change.

For his part, Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid stressed the need to consider Africa’s context as analysis shows that the African Energy demand could increase by 30% -compared to 10% in global energy demand by 2040.

 Dr. Farouk updated the Meeting on the progress towards establishing the Africa Energy Bank (AEB), noting that the APPO Ministerial Council had approved the take-off of the Bank in the First half of 2024.

The AEB aims to fill the gap arising from restrictions on funding oil and gas projects, particularly in Africa.

They concluded the event by underscoring the key role that Africa was set to play in the energy industry, in general, and the oil industry, in particular, in the years and decades ahead.

They also highlighted the importance and benefits of fostering the ongoing cooperation between OPEC and the African energy organizations, especially through the OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue framework, and decided to hold the 4th High-Level Meeting of the OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue in 2025.

The Innovation for Sustainable Rural Development (ISRuDev) has begun the implementation of a forest and farm sector project to empower about 1000 women and youth in the Wa West District.

The project, “Enhancing Resilience and Sustainability of Women Producer Groups in the Forest and Farm Sector in the Wa West District,” was funded by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

It is under the Forest and Farm Facility Direct Beneficiary Grants.

ISRuDev is a membership-based organisation in the District made up of 30 women groups and a youth group.

The project is expected to benefit all 31 women and youth member groups of ISRuDev in 20 communities of the district, including Kpenaateng, Gbaalwob, Chogsia, Gyinuokoraa, and Tawonkyele with an estimated 946 individual members.

This came to light during a stakeholder forum at Wechiau in the Wa West District to discuss the barriers to women farmers’ participation in forest and farm activities.

It was also to discuss innovative strategies to enable the women farmers to derive the benefits from the forest and farm activities.

Mr Maxwell Kpetaa Maal-Eng, the Business Development Officer at ISRuDev, said the project sought to increase the business development skills and profitability of green businesses for the beneficiary groups.

It was to build the capacity of group members to adopt and promote climate-smart agricultural practices.

The project would cover vegetables (dry season production), soya beans, shea butter, and moringa processing and provide training and market linkages for member groups in the value chains.

Other interventions include upscaling the provision of solar-powered mechanised water systems for irrigation to ensure year-round integrated diversified green production, woodlots creation, and conducting advanced Village Savings and Loans for the member groups, among other things.

Mr Maale-Eng said the project would conduct anti-bushfire campaigns in 12 communities, form and train community bushfire volunteers, and facilitate the creation of community restoration areas and woodlots.

Some participants at the forum advocated the promotion of forest and farm products and creating markets for those products.

They said if women benefited from forest products such as shea and dawadawa, they would play critical roles in protecting the forest and its products.

Bush burning and illegal felling of trees were major destructive agents of the forest and its products, they said, and stressed the need for concerted efforts to curb the menace, including legislation to stop the twin man-made disasters against the forest.

Mr Fuseini Nadi, the Wa West Agricultural Officer in charge of Crops, said the intervention had the potential to revolutionise agricultural activities, especially among women farmers.

He said the discussion on women’s access and ownership right to land would ensure their right to lands were guaranteed to be confident to invest and develop those lands for long-term agricultural purposes.

“The project line is a game changer since it will sensitise the women on climate change and educate them on innovative ways of farming and access to land,” he said.

Mr Nadi encouraged women to leverage climate-smart agricultural practices like the use of improved seeds to increase production amidst the impact of climate change.

Madam Vaar Yuorle, a woman farmer from the Meteu community, expressed the hope that their membership in the ISRuDev would facilitate access to timely tractor services and improved seed varieties at affordable prices.

Madam Agnes Sonyotey, also a member from Gyinuokoraa, said ISRuDev had trained them to process soybeans into cake and other food varieties to feed their children and to sell and hoped they would receive more skills training to improve their wellbeing through the Farm and Forest project.

Representatives from the beneficiary women and youth groups, Security Agencies, Heads of Departments, and traditional leaders among others attended the forum.

Mr Wamkele Mene has been reappointed as Secretary-General for the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by the African Union’s (AU) Authority of Heads and Governments.

He was re-elected for another four-year term at the African Union’s 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The AU stated that Mr Mene’s reappointment demonstrated their confidence in him and that it felt honoured to have worked with him for the “Africa we want,” which is part of the AU’s Agenda 2063.

The South African is the first Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, having served in that role since 2020, overseeing and facilitating the implementation of the world’s largest free trade area by membership.

So far, some 47 countries have ratified and deposited their instruments of ratification for the free trade agreement.

As part of attempts to hasten the trade agreement’s implementation, the Secretariat developed the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI), which saw Ghana and seven other nations meet trade requirements.

The GTI is a pilot phase designed to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA by evaluating the institutional, legal, and trade policy environment for intra-continental trade.

Together with the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), the Secretariat also launched the Pan-African Payment and Settlements System (PAPPS) to simplify and make transactions across the continent easy.

Again, about 88.3 per cent of the Rules of Origin – a strategic framework for determining goods that qualify for preferential tariff treatment originating from State parties under the AfCFTA- have been negotiated.

Mr Mene, served as the Chief Director of the Africa Economic Relations at the Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa, where he acted as the negotiator in the AfCFTA and Tripartite FTA negotiations.

He also worked as the Director for International Trade and Investment Law at the Department of Trade and Industry.

He represented South Africa at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland and was elected as the Chairman of WTO’s Committee on International Trade in Financial Services.

Mr Mene holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law from the Rhodes University and a master’s degree in international studies and diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

He also holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree in Banking Law and Financial Regulations form the London School of Economics and Political Science.