News

Executives from major global downstream and commodity trading companies are confirmed to participate at the African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 Conference and Exhibition, marking a critical turning point for continental project finance. Taking place from October 12‒16 in Cape Town, the event serves as the primary transaction hub where alternative debt structures, cross-border logistics and multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deals will take shape to secure Africa’s long-term energy future.

The participation of these speakers highlights a coordinated gathering of public and private sector players who are stepping in to underwrite, restructure and optimize Africa’s shifting upstream and downstream landscape. The confirmed speakers include Filippo Bof, Head of Business Development: Africa and the Mediterranean, Shell Trading & Shipping Company; Sesakho Magadla, Managing Director, South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC) Refinery; Matthieu Milandri, Head of Upstream Finance, Trafigura; Tamoor Ali, Originator, Trafigura; and Oumar Semega, Chairman and CEO, Imperatus Energy.

Shell is currently executing a sweeping multi-billion-dollar structural realignment across the African continent by divesting from mature onshore assets to focus capital on deepwater exploration and integrated trade logistics. This pivot includes the landmark sale of its onshore Nigerian subsidiary and the exploration of high-impact deepwater prospects in the Orange Basin. Concurrently, the company’s central trading and shipping arm - Shell Trading & Shipping Company - is adjusting its downstream strategy, which involves the high-profile sale of its extensive retail fuel network in South Africa.

Meanwhile, SANPC refinery is undergoing a comprehensive national restructuring and asset consolidation under a newly operationalized framework. As South Africa’s largest crude refinery with a capacity of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd), the facility is the focus of a state-led engineering and re-industrialization mission. The strategy focuses on restoring the plant’s technical operations and integrating it directly into regional pipeline networks to secure domestic fuel supply lines. Plans are also underway to increase output to up to 600,000 bpd, yet financing challenges remain.

Trafigura is expanding its footprint as a dominant alternative lender and logistical heavyweight across emerging markets, filling the funding gaps left by traditional equity markets. The trading giant recently finalized a massive $1 billion oil-backed prepayment facility with Gabon to secure exclusive long-term crude off-take rights. Furthermore, the company is embedding itself into regional industrial infrastructure, notably through its 30-year concession - secured through its joint venture partnership with Mota-Engil and Vecturis - to operate the Lobito Atlantic Railway corridor connecting Central African mineral belts to deepwater ports in Angola.

Imperatus Energy is executing a rapid vertical integration strategy to transition from a downstream commodity trading firm into an integrated explorer and regional logistics operator. Headquartered in Brazzaville with desks in Geneva and Dubai, the company is actively bidding on mature onshore and marginal blocks in the Congo Basin left behind by global supermajors. Additionally, the group is deploying corporate capital to construct independent oil and gas storage terminals and expand regional LPG distribution networks.

“The participation of these downstream and trading giants underscores that securing project finance and optimizing infrastructure are the primary mandates for African energy development. These speakers bring practical, data-driven strategies that demonstrate how structured trade finance, public asset consolidation and local private capital can independently move bankable projects past the finish line,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber.