The Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) has announced the first batch of confirmed speakers for its 10th anniversary edition, underscoring its status as a leading platform for Africa’s oil, gas and energy industry.
The confirmed speakers include senior policymakers, regulators and executives of national oil companies from across the continent, many of whom have been involved with SAIPEC since its early years and have contributed to its evolution into a major continental energy forum.
Among those confirmed are the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Petroleum Commission, Dr Emeafa Hardcastle; Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Felix Ogbe Omatsola; and Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister for Mines and Mining Development and official of the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority, Hon. Dr Eng. Caleb Makwiranzou.
Others on the list are Foday Mansaray, Director General of Sierra Leone’s Petroleum Directorate; Dr Ernest Rubondo, Executive Director of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda; and Dr Amadou Hassane, former General Director of Hydrocarbons at Niger Republic’s Ministry of Petroleum.
Also expected at the conference are Baboucarr Njie, Managing Director of the Gambia National Petroleum Corporation; Proscovia Nabbanja, Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda National Oil Company; Fabian M. Lai, President and CEO of the National Oil Company of Liberia; and Engr. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Chief Executive Commissioner of Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Industry leaders confirmed include Engr. Wole Ogunsanya, Chief Executive Officer of Geoplex Limited and Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria. Other speakers are Kwaku Boateng, Director of Economics and Local Content at Ghana’s Petroleum Commission, and Jean Michel Akossi, Director of Local Content at Côte d’Ivoire’s Directorate of Local Content.
Organisers said the calibre of speakers reflects the sustained engagement of African energy institutions with SAIPEC over the past decade and reinforces its role as a forum for policy coordination, regional collaboration and investment attraction.
SAIPEC 2026 will take place from February 10 to 12, 2026, at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos. The event is hosted by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria in partnership with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NNPC Limited, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and AOS Orwell.
A key highlight of the anniversary edition will be Nigeria’s ongoing oil licensing round, with sessions dedicated to regulatory updates, available acreage and investment opportunities. In addition, country spotlight sessions will showcase upstream, gas and infrastructure prospects across major African energy markets.
Beyond the conference sessions, organisers said networking will be a major feature, with business meetings, executive receptions and industry events aimed at fostering partnerships and deal-making. The accompanying international exhibition, one of the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to host more than 150 exhibitors presenting technologies and services spanning exploration, production, engineering, digitalisation and the energy transition.
Further speaker announcements are expected in the coming weeks, while the full conference programme is available on the SAIPEC website.
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