Algiers,Algeria – September 11, 2025 – Oando PLC reinforced its commitment to Africa’s trade and energy transformation at the recently concluded Afreximbank Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025), taking place from September 4 – 10, 2025, in Algiers,Algeria.
Organised by Afreximbank in collaboration with the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat, IATF is Africa’s premier platform to accelerate intra-African trade and investment. The biennial event convenes Heads of State, policymakers,business leaders, and innovators to showcase opportunities and strengthen cooperation under the AfCFTA framework.
Sharing insights from his experience, Wale Tinubu CON, Group Chief Executive, OandoPLC, spoke in two high-level fireside chats titled “Lessons from Experience: Advice from an African Titan” and “African Giants – In Conversation with Africa’s Most Active Industrialists,” where he underscored the urgency of African-focused financing in shaping Africa’s energy future. He remarked, “An African Energy Bank is critical to our continent’s future. Today, the global focus is on sustainability and the transition to cleaner fuels. Yet the reality is that nearly 45% of Africans still lack access to electricity. For Africa,the conversation cannot be about abandoning hydrocarbons, but about achieving ajust transition, one that balances the urgent need for energy security with long-term sustainability.”
“This institution, funded by contributions from the major oil and gas producers alongside Afreximbank and capital raised from international markets, would be transformative. It would provide the financing needed for indigenous champions across the continent, in Mozambique, Angola, Congo, and beyond, to responsibly develop our hydrocarbon wealth. In doing so, we can fuel an African energy renaissance, ensuring our resources serve as the foundation for both immediate development and the eventual transition to cleaner energy” he added.
Onthe exit of international oil companies in the Nigerian onshore and shallow water operations, Tinubu stressed the opportunity this presents for local operators: “Ten years ago, when we completed the $1.4 billion ConocoPhillips acquisition, our syndicate was backed by more than 10 foreign banks. A decade later, during the Eni acquisition, only one remained, Afreximbank.International lenders have steadily withdrawn from Africa, driven by the irreluctance to finance hydrocarbons. When ConocoPhillips divested from Nigeria and other countries, they repatriated $3.5 to $4 billion and reinvested it into U.S. shale. That exit, however, created an opportunity for us, and other indigenous operators, to step up and take greater ownership of our sector.”
Representing Oando, Efuntomi Akpenye, Chief Legal Officer, joined the plenary session“Leverage the Power of African Women in Trade Towards Maximising Africa’s Trade Potential and AfCFTA Impact.” She highlighted the urgent need for trade frameworks to move beyond gender neutrality. “Regulatory frameworks need to move from being gender-neutral on paper to being gender-responsive in practice,” she remarked, stressing simplified licensing, reduced duties,and mobile-based registration in local languages as essential to unlocking women’s potential in cross-border trade.
She further emphasised the importance of data and accountability, noting, “If you don’t measure something, you cannot deal with the issue… we must integrate women’s informal trade data into state reporting to shape national strategies and AfCFTA negotiations.” Her callwas reinforced by fellow panellist, Tumi Diamini, Founding Director, African Women in Public Policy (AWIPP), who remarked, “Women own business to progress, it’s important we also start to focus on corporate governance as a tool, and an enabler for the progress of women-owned businesses.”
Oando’s participation at IATF 2025 underscores the company’s belief in inclusive policies and local champions as the catalysts to achieving Africa’s economic sovereignty, trade growth, and energy independence.
