January 27, 1987 – January 27, 2026, it will soon be 39 years since APPO was created. This pan-African organization, whose main mission is to promote cooperation between its Member Countries and other international institutions in the field of hydrocarbons and to encourage fruitful collaboration and partnerships by using hydrocarbons as catalysts for energy security, sustainable development and economic diversification in Africa, was created on January 27, 1987 in Lagos (Federal Republic of Nigeria).
To mark the event, several events are planned, the most important of which is the holding in Brazzaville of the 4th Meeting of the Forum of Ambassadors and Heads of Mission of APPO Member Countries accredited to the Republic of Congo. It is a strategic meeting that allows representatives of Member Countries to consult and discuss issues affecting the life of the organization. For this year, the theme chosen for the Forum Meeting to be held in Brazzaville on January 27, 2026 is: Development of Local Content in Oil and Gas Activities in Africa. This meeting comes only a few weeks after the organization in Brazzaville by APPO of its 4th Conference and Exhibition on Local Content in Africa. The Ambassadors will not fail to discuss the APPO’s initiatives for the promotion of Local Content, including the signing last November of the Brazzaville Declaration. Another important item on the agenda was an update on the project to create the Africa Energy Bank (AEB), which is being promoted by APPO in partnership with Afreximbank. An inspection visit to the headquarters of this Bank located in Abuja (Federal Republic of Nigeria) is also announced for the beginning of February.
A new executive for a new stage for the organisation
The 39th anniversary of APPO comes in a context of major changes at the head of the organization. Thus, as far as the Ministerial Council is concerned, it is Côte d’Ivoire that takes over the presidency of APPO in the person of H.E.M. Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, Ivorian Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy. H.E. Mrs. Acacia Bandubola Mbongo, Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Democratic Republic of Congo is the Vice-Chairperson. At the Secretariat level, APPO also welcomes a new manager. This is Mr. Farid Ghezali who took office in Brazzaville on January 05, 2026, while he had been appointed by the 48th Ordinary Session of the APPO Ministerial Council held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on November 4, 2025.
39 years of leadership in the service of the African hydrocarbon industry
The idea of creating the APPA emerged in the 1980s during informal meetings between the African member countries of OPEC (Algeria, Gabon, Libya and Nigeria). This followed the surge in international oil prices from the 1970s onwards, a situation that had severely affected the balance of payments of many developing countries. Thus, these four countries have agreed to reserve 4% of their production to meet the needs of non-producing African countries. The first meeting of this group of four countries was held in Libreville, Gabon, in October 1984. Consultations were then held with other non-OPEC oil-producing African countries to integrate them. Another meeting was held in June 1985 in Brioni (former Yugoslavia) where the leaders officially decided to found the Association. In January 1987, eight (8) African oil-producing countries (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, referred to as the founding members) met in Lagos to officially found the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA). Today, the number of members of APPO has increased from eight (8) in 1987 to eighteen (18) (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa) with one Honorary Member Country, Venezuela. Between 2014 and 2019, the Association undertook a major reform, requiring an overhaul of its mission and vision, its organizational structure and a name change: the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) became the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO).
