African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) met on the sidelines of the OPEC Meeting in Vienna to discuss the deepening of the pan-African energy cooperation within APPO. The discussions centered around the conclusion that the APPO headquarters should return to Brazzaville in Congo from Abuja in Nigeria following the Republic of Congo’s assurances that it could host the Organization’s dignitaries and provide the environment required for APPO’s functioning and expansion.
H.E. Jean-Marc Thystere-Tchicaya, Minister of Hydrocarbons of Congo, expressed his satisfaction over the decision, and assured all ministerial delegations of Congo’s determination to keep working towards the growth of the organization; and committed to host an APPO Heads of States Conference in Congo in June 2020.
As African ministers congratulated the delegation of Congo, all participants agreed on the need to work harder to elevate APPO’s debates and reach to the same level as OPEC’s in order to maximize Africa’s energy cooperation and give the continent a stronger voice on the international stage.
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About APPO
African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) is an organization of African countries producing petroleum. It was created on January 27, 1987 in Lagos, Nigeria, to serve as a platform for cooperation and harmonization of efforts, collaboration, sharing of knowledge and skills among African oil producing countries. The headquarters of the organization is in Brazzaville in the Congo. The Organization changed its name from African Petroleum Producers Association to African Petroleum Producers Organization in 2017.
The founding of APPO was spearheaded by Nigeria as an effort to mitigate the nation’s dependency on Western technology and Western markets for oil export revenues. The objective of APPO is to promote cooperation in petrochemical research and technology.
