Industry organisation the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) will host a conference in Cape Town from April 22 to 26 to engage on key industry issues and identify financing solutions for sustainable infrastructure projects.

“Africa’s significant future energy demands will require major investments across the downstream value chain to deliver cleaner fuels and value-added petroleum products to our growing population,” says ARDA president and Ghanaian National Petroleum Authority CE Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid.

Projects spanning infrastructure upgrades and logistics efficiency improvements must be pursued alongside cleaner fuel and vehicle initiatives, he states.

Therefore, the ARDA stands ready to collaborate with key partners such as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the African Petroleum Producers' Organisation and the African Union Commission and other stakeholders to pursue a robust, intra-African oil and gas industry that is supported by innovative financing solutions, such as the African Energy Bank that is due to launch later this year, he adds.

“Africa needs to be intentional as we follow a coordinated strategy to execute bankable energy infrastructure projects focused on balancing our continent’s energy security requirements with the global energy transition agenda,” says ARDA executive secretary Anibor Kragha.

The first ARDA Investment Forum will focus on fleshing out the key best practices, namely robust regulatory frameworks to support investments, effective project preparation to determine the scope, cost and schedule for economic projects, fulfilment of critical environmental, social and governance requirements and targeted human capacity development objectives.

“These best practices must be in place to attract the necessary project financing solutions to ensure that investments are made as envisioned to deliver Africa’s Energy Transition Plan.

“We must harness our critical human and mineral resources to target critical pools of capital to eradicate energy poverty and unleash the cleaner energy required to enable the continent’s transition to a low-carbon economy,” he says.

Further, sessions at the conference will discuss pan-African challenges and opportunities, including 'Post-COP 28: Ensuring a coordinated, robust intra-African oil and gas industry alongside implementation of energy transition aspirations', and 'The future of cleaner fuels in Africa – LPG, biofuels, hydrogen'.

Other sessions will include 'Placing environmental, social and governance issues front and centre', 'The technology imperative – innovations to drive energy transition in Africa', and 'The African Carbon Markets Initiative – the role of the African downstream'.

ARDA Week 2024 will be held at the Century City Conference Centre, in Cape Town.