Jassim Alshirawi, Secretary General of intergovernmental organization the International Energy Forum (IEF), has joined the African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies conference as a speaker. As the world’s largest gathering of energy ministers, the IEF accounts for more than 90% of global oil and gas supply, and as such, Alshirawi is well-positioned to lead discussions around Africa’s oil market, including trends, opportunities and challenges.
Representing the global home of energy dialogue, the IEF focuses on energy security, data transparency and energy transition, uniting global energy ministers and stakeholders to advance global supply chains. Founded more than 30 years ago, the organization facilitates discussions between producing and consuming countries, offering a neutral and inclusive platform to address supply chain challenges. Alshirawi’s participation at AEW: Invest in African Energies 2025 – Africa’s largest energy event – is expected to further strengthen these discussions as Africa’s role in global energy markets increasingly grows.
AEW: Invest in African Energies is the platform of choice for project operators, financiers, technology providers and government, and has emerged as the official place to sign deals in African energy. Visit www.AECWeek.com for more information about this exciting event.
Alshirawi’s participation comes as Africa moves to promote Africa-centric energy policies, ones that middle around the continent’s need to scale-up energy capacity while advancing a just energy transition. Given that over 600 million people currently lack access to electricity across the continent while 900 million people lack access to clean cooking solutions, many countries are advocating for a differentiated approach to the energy transition in Africa, one that prioritizes the development of low-carbon oil and gas. Organizations such as the IEF are uniquely positioned to facilitate energy dialogue, thereby enhancing a better understanding of Africa’s energy dynamics.
Beyond energy dialogue, the IEF provides a series of reports and data analysis, with insights supporting investments and decision-making by leading operators and financiers. In the IEF’s latest Comparative Analysis of Monthly Reports on the Oil Market, the organization offers a comparison of forecasted market trends by major organizations such as OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its comparison, the IEF outlines that OPEC predictions show global oil demand rising 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025, driven predominantly by increased consumption of transportation fuels. The 2026 forecast will see demand rise by a further 1.3 million bpd, sustained by rising demand for mobility and petrochemicals feedstocks. At the same time, the IEA projects global oil demand to rise by 0.7 million bpd in 2025 and 720,000 bpd in 2026. These discrepancies underscore the need to connect under one platform, with AEW: Invest in African Energies 2025 emerging as a strategic forum in this regard.
AEW: Invest in African Energies unites stakeholders from the global and African energy landscapes to discuss strategies for accelerating investment and development in pursuit of enhanced energy security. As a continent rich with a variety of natural resources and offering significant untapped opportunities, Africa is well-positioned to play a more central role in global supply chains. Established markets such as Angola, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo and Libya are rapidly increasing oil and gas production, targeting new exploration frontiers and incremental production projects. Concurrently, emerging markets such as Namibia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Zimbabwe are all driving frontier exploration, with the aim of establishing themselves as future producers. In tandem with advancements in clean energy developments – from large-scale green hydrogen to integrated solar and wind – Africa offers significant opportunities across its entire energy sector and value chain.
Stepping into this picture, Alshirawi’s participation at AEW: Invest in African Energies 2025 will strengthen Africa-global dialogue. His participation will not only seek to address challenges and opportunities across the global energy market but foster discussions around Africa’s unique strategy to scale-up energy and advance its transition.
“As Africa’s energy sector experiences rapid growth, a unique opportunity has emerged for operators, financiers and technology providers to capitalize on global demand and position the continent as a major supplier. 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,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber.
Africa Fact: As of 2019, 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still do not have access to electricity. In some central African countries, less than 10% of the population have access to electricity.
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