By Precious John, Special Correspondent
Africa Oil & Power (AOP) has announced its strategic partnership with Invest in Africa (IIA) – a leading business and investment promotion association for African SMEs – to drive the participation of local suppliers in the energy sector at the upcoming MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2021 Conference & Exhibition.
The partnership aims to expand the presence of African SMEs by connecting multinationals and IOCs to credible local suppliers; facilitating collaboration with partners, vendors, clients and governments; and ensuring that large-scale energy developments translate into tangible opportunities for indigenous businesses.
The collaboration between the two entities is foundational to the event’s central mission to promote local content, capacity building and cooperation between IOCs and local partners.
“Invest in Africa has a particular interest in this Summit because it allows key stakeholders of the extractive industries and energies around the MSGBC Basin to meet and access the same level of information on ongoing operations, as well as development prospects,” stated African Partner Pool Manager at IIA, Ibrahima Talla,. “This constitutes the foundation of the local content promoted and advocated by IIA. We are convinced that this forum will promote the establishment of partnerships that will foster the creation and sharing of value.”
With over 1,400 companies as members, IIA grows African SMES by improving their access to skills, markets and finance, with a view to transforming their competitiveness, creating jobs and building long-term capacity. The association also helps to improve the investment climate and quality of policy discussions to create a more favorable business environment for investors. According to IIA, the investment promotion platform has created 80,000 jobs, trained over 260 SMEs and retained US$116 million within local economies to date.
Hosted in Dakar, Senegal on October 26-27, MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2021 seeks to kick-start a new era of regional cooperation and integration across the energy sector, from hydrocarbons to renewables to power access and reliability. The two-day event will also prioritize local content discussions and the development of the national private sector through international partnerships.
