The 39th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) was held last Tuesday, in a bid to enhance cooperation and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 across the petroleum industry.
Heads of State from APPO’s eighteen member countries united virtually to ensure long-term stability in the global oil market, as well as strengthen cooperation with OPEC member countries.
The members also met to finalize and implement the decisions taken during the 38th Council of Ministers meeting held by videoconference on June 15.
“Since the reform of APPO began a few years ago, the challenges of the oil and gas industry in Africa are practically the same. Besides the volatility of the oil markets, which affects all oil producers, we have particular challenges in Africa: overdependence on oil export revenues, foreign technology and finance, and in some cases, even human resources,” noted H.E. Foumakoye Gado, Nigerien Minister of Petroleum and President of the Council of Ministers of APPO.
Among key decisions taken during the meeting was the transfer of APPO headquarters from Abuja, Nigeria to Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo; the postponement of the Heads of State Summit to 2021; and the commission of a detailed study on the future of oil and gas in Africa, in light of new COVID-19 market dynamics.
APPO has eighteen members: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Chad.