As Director General of Grupo Member Ltd, Pablo Memba has long-been an advocate for advancing local content in Africa, a topic he will be driving during the next leg of the African Energy Chamber’s investment roadshow.
The next leg of the African Energy Chamber’s (AEC) investment roadshow – the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris – takes place at the Westin Paris Vendome on June 1, bringing together movers and shakers from both the African and European energy sectors to advance partnerships and investment in African energy. Notwithstanding financial opportunities that will be showcased, the Forum will expand domestic energy markets in Africa through dialogue centered on local content development. On this topic, the Chamber is proud to announce that Pablo Memba, Director General of Grupo Memba Ltd. (GML), will lead discussions, advocating for strategic alliances, capacity building and strengthened bilateral cooperation.
An energy and business consultant with over 25 years’ experience, Memba’s expertise lies in providing management consulting, negotiation, business development and strategic business services to the oil and gas, power and construction sectors. His career has seen him successfully advise a suite of international firms, multinationals and start-up ventures across all phases of project development, and he is well recognized for developing joint ventures with several oil services companies in Equatorial Guinea. Memba serves as the Director General of GML, an energy and infrastructure consulting firm that has a successful track record of brokering and executing more than 30 public-private joint venture and investment projects valued at over $5 billion. At its core, the Equatoguinean company’s mission is to deliver results-oriented and cost-effective marketing and business development solutions to help clients maximize revenue, generate growth and develop a sustainable competitive edge in the African market, and as such, the company is considered a fierce advocate for local content in Africa.
While international energy company involvement in Africa has traditionally been on the project development front, the nature of Africa-global relations has shifted dramatically as the continent’s energy sector has expanded. Historically, large-scale project energy developments in Africa have relied on expatriate labor, with companies importing the majority of workforce personnel, depending on international service companies and serving as disconnected participants in the market. Now, African governments are calling for broader commitments by global partners, putting in place local content regulations and policies that aim to advance the participation of local entrepreneurs and businesses.
Against this backdrop, opportunities for Africa’s workforce have significantly increased, and organization’s such as GML are committed to ensuring African entrepreneurs and businesses seize prospects, increasing their participation in the African energy sector. In addition to providing business development, technical support and market penetration services, GML’s focus is on creating strategic alliances between African companies and global energy players, helping international stakeholders maximize local content development across the continent. Such alliances go beyond revenue generation to serve as a basis for knowledge transfer, capacity building and long-term market growth.
Looking at Equatorial Guinea’s energy sector, for example, companies to the likes of GEM Services EG S.A.R.L – a joint venture between Grupo Memba and Baker Hughes – provide value-added services to operators in the oil and gas sector while successful joint ventures are in place such as for Block G – comprising Panoro Energy, Trident Energy, Kosmos Energy and GEPetrol. As Africa’s energy sector expands, owing to the opening up of frontier markets, the development of recent discoveries and focus placed on mid- and downstream developments, the importance of local content and strategic alliances is only growing.
During the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris, Memba will drive this very discussion, making a strong case for the role strategic alliances such as joint ventures play in Africa’s energy future. In addition to advocating for capacity building, skills and technology transfer, Memba will engage with a variety of stakeholders from across the African and European energy sectors, using the Forum as a vehicle for advancing local content development in Africa in 2023 and beyond.
“Pablo Memba understands what Africa needs to create a competitive and resilient energy market. As the head of GML and a strong advocate for Africa’s energy future, Memba supports the continent’s energy and service companies as well as entrepreneurs penetrate and position themselves within the dynamic African energy market. The Invest in African Energy Forum in Africa provides a unique opportunity for Africa to advance its local content agenda. Connecting European energy players and investor with African partners, the Forum is centered around creating mutually beneficial partnerships, and Memba will advance dialogue around the role these strategies alliances play. We look forward to the discussions and insights that will be offered by Memba,” stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.
Taking place on June 1 2023, the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris is open to all guests and RSVP is essential. RSVP to [email protected].
