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OPEC-Africa Roundtable at AEW 2026 to Align African Producers with Global Energy Markets
OPEC will host the OPEC-Africa Roundtable during African Energy Week (AEW) 2026, taking place from October 12–16 in Cape Town. The session will bring together OPEC leadership and African producers to align on strategies for capacity expansion, investment coordination and downstream operations, with OPEC's forecast of 1.4 million bpd in global oil demand growth for 2026 framing the urgency of the conversation.
Africa is home to six of OPEC's 11 member states: Nigeria, Algeria, Libya, the Republic of Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Together with non-OPEC producers across the continent, these countries hold roughly 120 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and account for approximately 8% of global crude supply, with total output estimated between 6.5 and 7 million bpd.
Nigeria, OPEC's largest African producer, pumped 1.46 million bpd in January 2026, while Algeria maintains output near 1.1 million bpd alongside gas expansion led by Sonatrach. OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais will attend AEW 2026 and engage directly with the continent's producers, investors and policymakers.
Global upstream investment needs are accelerating, with OPEC's 2026 World Oil Outlook projecting $17.7 trillion in cumulative oil-related investment from 2026 to 2050, averaging over $700 billion per year. Within Africa, upstream capital expenditure is expected to reach $41 billion in 2026, with exploration concentrated in deepwater basins off Namibia, Senegal, Mozambique and the Gulf of Guinea. OPEC's long-term outlook also identifies Africa as a leading source of incremental demand, projecting continental oil consumption to nearly double from 4.9 million bpd in 2025 to 9.2 million bpd by 2050.
Disruptions in Middle Eastern supply routes have accelerated demand for supply diversification, and African crude – which ships directly from Atlantic and Indian Ocean coastlines – offers importers valuable geographic optionality. The OPEC-Africa roundtable will assess how African producers can become essential players in filling the resulting supply gap while strengthening their own energy security.
Production discipline, downstream capacity and coordinated engagement within the OPEC+ framework are all expected to feature in the discussion. Many of Africa's oil-exporting nations still import refined petroleum products, underscoring the need for investment across the full value chain. The session will examine how aligning upstream growth with refining and domestic off-take frameworks can ensure that rising global demand translates into lasting economic value for African producer states.
“African producers have spent too long on the margins of global supply coordination,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “Africa has the reserves and the demand, which is why this dialogue with OPEC is so important. What we need now is the infrastructure, the refining capacity and the discipline to show up as reliable partners in the OPEC+ framework.”
The roundtable and the discussions that follow are a prominent addition to African Energy Week 2026, taking place October 12–16 at the Cape Town International Convention Center.