IATF 2025: Oilserv Raises Hope on Opportunities for Pan-African Oil, Gas Service Companies

Peter Uzoho

One of the biggest oil and gas servicing companies in Africa, Oilserv Nigeria Limited, has urged international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Africa to optimise the opportunities offered them by the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) companies.

Speaking during a session at the just-ended Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF’25), in Algier. Algeria, Group Chief Executive Officer of Oilserv Group, Emeka Okwuosa, explained that the ability of the company to have successfully carried out complex and standard engineering contracts within Nigeria and other countries makes it a better competition.

Represented by the Chief of Staff of the Company, Mr. Cephalus Wariri, Okwuosa said Oilserv has over the years, leveraged the benefits of working with Afreximbank for some massive transformation, which offered them both skill and capacity.

According to him, “We have handled huge Turn-Key projects and is currently driving Africa’s biggest gas project and as well dominated the area and developed flow stations which have made it possible to bring service and products through collaboration with Nigeria, NNPCL across areas of need.”

The company has played for over 30 years in the EPC sector, leading to its recognition by industry players as rich in capacity, becoming the major driver of oil and gas-based construction and engineering since inception, and has continued to expand in scope and application all through Nigeria

The company has also taken its services to countries like Benin, Ghana, Senegal and other Pan-African countries.

Okwuosa said, “As a major provider of oil and gas sector infrastructure, we have all it takes to offer the oil companies quality services as well as timely deliverables to drive the projects needed.

“At the moment, the approach of the company is extending its services to more companies as it has really conquered the Nigerian industry and is ready to offer our services to more countries in the continent.

“All oil companies need our infrastructure to progress. We are ready to provide all the facilities as infrastructure to clients.”

Wariri noted that finance has been a major deal affecting projects, indicating that local banks are not capable of helping much, which brings them back to multilaterals, most of the time Afreximbank.

“As an intra-African construction company, we conceived Nigeria’s most ambitious oil and gas pipeline project called Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano, AKK in 2014 and have been doing excellently with it inspite of some unforeseen natural challenges which are also under control.”

He noted that apart from the challenge of sourcing finance to complement the Afreximbank support, there were issues of insecurity, problems of ease of doing business, and foreign exchange instability.

“All these come into conflict with our focus, which is a stable African economy. Because we have benefited from Afreximbank collaborations, we have been able to find our way into several activities that needed much financing,” he added.

Gulf of Guinea Round-Table: Global CEOs, Top Diplomats, Ministers, Govs Meet in New York

•Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari to chair forum

By Louis Achi

Global CEOs, top diplomats, ministers, governors and industry leaders gather in New York to unlock the Gulf of Guinea’s over $800 billion energy, oil & gas, aviation, minerals and maritime opportunities and a projected $ 3trillion Coastal Africa’s economy as the 80th UN General Assembly opens in the US.

Themed, “Unlocking Energy, Oil & Gas, Minerals, Aviation and Maritime Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea: A Roadmap for Peace and Security,” the round-table which holds on the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, will explore the Gulf of Guinea, Africa’s most strategic region.

The round-table is convened by The New Diplomat, an Abuja based policy think tank, in collaboration with the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) headquartered in Angola with diplomatic coverage over about 19 coastal African countries.

The premier event will be chaired by Nigeria’s Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, scholar-diplomat, former Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, former United Nations Under Secretary-General, erstwhile Chief of Staff to late former President Muhammadu Buhari and two-time President of the United Nations Security Council.

According to Ambassador Oma Djebah, Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Thailand with concurrent accreditation to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in Bangkok, the forum aims to unlock the Gulf of Guinea’s over $800 Billion energy, oil & gas, minerals, aviation and maritime investment opportunities.

His words, “the high-level forum will also spotlight coastal Africa’s rich economy projected at $3trillion in order to harness the inherent benefits of its vast economic, investment, minerals, oil & gas, energy, aviation and maritime capabilities for the overall benefits of public and private sector players in the Gulf of Guinea region.”

Ambassador Oma Djebah, also a former  two-time Commissioner for Information, Delta State  further revealed the high-level roundtable would bring together global public-private sector players, including regional organizations chiefs, public-private sector leaders,  energy, oil and gas, maritime, minerals and aviation organizations chiefs,  development finance experts and cross-sector regulators with the overarching  objective of leveraging the abundant opportunities and potentials in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).

Similarly, Ambassador Mohammed Bello Abioye, former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Pakistan with concurrent accreditation to the Maldives, who is  a co-host at  the high-profile event said expected outcomes from the high-level roundtable, include strengthened economic development frameworks, enhanced investors’ confidence through clearer strategic institutional and governance frameworks, expanded networks for B2B, G2G, and P2P cooperation in maritime, oil and gas, energy, aviation, minerals and infrastructure development.

According to Abioye, others objectives include unlocking funding/investment opportunities for both public and private sector players in the Gulf of Guinea region and facilitation of the creation of the Gulf of Guinea Business Council (GGBC) as a strategic regional business network and a nexus for private and public sector engagement in the GoG.

According to the programme brochure obtained by THISDAY, other aims include creating a unique forum for fostering   strategic G2G, B2B and P2P networks across international jurisdictions with eyes on investment prospects, direct access to target business markets as well as potential cross-sector collaborations.

Additional objectives include the need to unlock the Gulf of Guinea’s over $800 billion energy, oil and gas, infrastructure, and maritime business opportunities as well as an outlined $3 trillion African coastal economy prospects.  

The strategic benefits of the one-day event  include, catalyzing Blue Economy, Blue Diplomacy and organizational positioning within the evolving intra-African business eco-system as well as opportunities  for stakeholders in the AfCFTA and structured financing frameworks for large-scale projects in energy, oil & gas, aviation, minerals and maritime sectors.

Other key benefits include fostering mechanisms for strengthened cooperation among the 19 coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea and the broader 38 African coastal nations, mobilizing investment in maritime, oil and gas, energy, aviation and minerals projects across the GoG region.

Others include supporting the GGC as a regional coordination hub, showcasing public -private collaboration models aligned with AFCFTA Agenda 2063, and SDG 14 (Life Below Water), and driving technical partnerships around logistics, airlifts, and maritime development.