The Ambassador of South Africa received in audience on Monday, January 19, H.E. Farid Ghezali, Secretary General of APPO in Brazzaville at the premises of the Embassy. Held in a warm atmosphere, the meeting allowed the two diplomats to exchange New Year’s greetings, while exploring some hot topics in the oil and gas news in Africa. For South Africa, which joined APPO in 2005, the Organization is a major asset in enabling Member Countries to optimize their providential resources for the well-being of their populations. This was indicated by the Ambassador, highlighting the vast potential of APPO for its Member Countries.
In response, the SG reassured that the Organization being above all at the service of its Members, the Secretariat remains available to provide Embassies and Member Countries with the necessary answers for any concern related to the field of Energy. He invited the Ambassador to take part in the next Meeting of the Forum of Ambassadors and Heads of Mission of APPO Member Countries accredited to the Republic of Congo, which will be held on 27 January 2026 in Brazzaville during the 39th anniversary of APPO, in which important issues related to the development of the oil and gas sector of Member Countries will be discussed.
The Ambassador, while expressing his availability to attend this Forum, also indicated that the energy landscape of his country has recently been marked by the merger of all the agencies dedicated to oil and gas issues into a single agency, the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), an energy company dedicated to promoting a new approach to the energy sector in South Africa and the rest of the African continent and created to build capacity and resilience in South Africa’s energy sector. He indicated that, in order to overcome the language barrier, APPO could soon serve as a bridge between this National Hydrocarbons Company and its sisters in French-speaking African countries, including the Republic of Congo, for the establishment of a possible collaboration between them. The wise advice of APPO is, in this regard, expected, he added to the SG who reassured that this concern will be taken into account, particularly in the framework of the APPO NOC CEO Forum.
