By: Oil & gas middle east

Jassim Alshirawi, Secretary General of the International Energy Forum (IEF), has confirmed his participation as a speaker at the upcoming African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies 2025, Africa’s premier energy investment summit. As head of the world’s largest gathering of energy ministers, representing over 90% of global oil and gas supply, Alshirawi is set to bring critical insights to discussions on the future of Africa’s oil and gas markets.

The IEF, founded more than three decades ago, is a leading intergovernmental organisation promoting global energy dialogue. It serves as a neutral platform that fosters collaboration between energy producers and consumers, with a mandate focused on energy security, data transparency, and the energy transition. Alshirawi’s presence at AEW 2025 signals the growing importance of Africa in global supply chains and underscores the IEF’s commitment to supporting inclusive energy development.

AEW: Invest in African Energies, organised by the African Energy Chamber, has emerged as a key venue for energy deals across Africa, bringing together governments, project developers, financiers, and technology providers. This year’s edition will spotlight the continent’s drive for an Africa-centric energy transition—one that balances development needs with global decarbonisation efforts.

Africa’s Energy Imperative

With more than 600 million people without access to electricity and 900 million lacking clean cooking solutions, African nations continue to advocate for a differentiated approach to the energy transition. The emphasis is on leveraging the continent’s vast hydrocarbon resources, especially low-carbon oil and gas, to meet urgent energy needs while transitioning responsibly.

Organisations like the IEF play a crucial role in guiding this dialogue.

Through its data-driven reports and analysis, the IEF equips stakeholders with reliable market intelligence to inform investment decisions. In its latest Comparative Analysis of Monthly Reports on the Oil Market, the IEF highlights key discrepancies in demand forecasts between OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA), reinforcing the need for unified platforms like AEW to align strategies and expectations.

According to the IEF’s assessment:

OPEC projects oil demand to grow by 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in both 2025 and 2026, led by transport and petrochemicals.
IEA forecasts a more conservative increase of 0.7 million bpd in 2025 and 720,000 bpd in 2026.

Such divergent outlooks highlight the importance of open dialogue and inclusive platforms, particularly as Africa’s exploration, production, and infrastructure ambitions intensify.

Africa’s Expanding Energy Frontier

Africa’s energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. Established producers like Nigeria, Angola, the Republic of Congo, and Libya are scaling up production, while emerging markets such as Namibia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, and South Africa are advancing frontier exploration. At the same time, countries are investing in clean energy innovations, including large-scale green hydrogen, solar, and wind projects.

AEW 2025 will provide a stage to showcase this diversity and dynamism, offering new investment opportunities across the energy value chain, from upstream hydrocarbons to renewables and infrastructure.

Jassim Alshirawi’s participation will deepen dialogue between African stakeholders and the global energy community. His perspective is expected to bring clarity to discussions around the role of oil and gas in a just transition, as well as how Africa can position itself as a secure, competitive, and sustainable supplier to global markets.

“As Africa’s energy sector experiences rapid growth, a unique opportunity has emerged for operators, financiers and technology providers to capitalise on global demand and position the continent as a major supplier,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “Insights shared by the IEF have long played an important part in de-risking investments in Africa and will continue supporting developments as companies unlock the full potential of the continent’s energy resources.”