The African Energy Chamber (AEC) advanced its South-South energy cooperation agenda this week with a high-level working visit to Caracas, engaging Venezuelan officials on expanding collaboration in oil and gas development, gas commercialisation, and professional training for African energy workers.
From February 22–26, AEC representatives met with Yuri Pimentel, Venezuela’s Vice Minister for Africa, agreeing to pursue stronger institutional ties that move beyond goodwill toward structured frameworks enabling greater African participation in Venezuelan upstream and downstream sectors, while encouraging Venezuelan companies to engage more deeply in African markets.
Both sides rejected the idea of oil and gas as mere transitional fuels, instead framing hydrocarbons — particularly natural gas and petrochemicals — as key drivers of industrial growth, electrification, and energy access in the Global South.
AEC also advanced human capital development by engaging with the Universidad Venezolana de los Hidrocarburos to establish structured training programmes covering onshore and offshore operations as well as executive training in regulation and operations. Talks are underway with energy officials from Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Senegal to align these programmes with national energy priorities.
Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk emphasised that the meetings were focused on practical cooperation to strengthen energy value chains, expand gas and petrochemical markets, and build the skills needed to develop resources competitively.
This visit follows recent AEC criticism of Western energy frameworks and signals its active pursuit of alternative institutional alliances that support African development objectives independent of traditional Western-led mechanisms.
