By Abiola Olawale
Following the official opening of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80), New York, USA, high-level delegations from over a dozen countries, including global CEOs, top diplomats, ministers, governors, industry leaders will gather in New York to unlock the Gulf of Guinea’s over $800 billion Energy, Oil & Gas, Aviation and Maritime Opportunities and a projected $ 3trillion Coastal Africa’s economy.
The global leaders are scheduled to gather at a High-level Roundtable with the theme “Unlocking Energy, Oil & Gas, Minerals, Aviation and Maritime Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea: A Roadmap for Peace and Security,” during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Convened by The New Diplomat, an Abuja based policy think tank, (which also runs a digital newspaper, The New Diplomat) in collaboration with the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) with headquarters in Angola-the premier regional framework in the Gulf of Guinea region with diplomatic coverage over about 19 coastal African countries, the high-level Roundtable, will be be chaired by Nigeria’s Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, scholar-diplomat, former Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, former United Nations Under Secretary-General, erstwhile Chief of Staff to late former President Muhammadu Buhari and two-time President of the United Nations Security Council.
Gambari was also Co-Chair of the Gambari-Albright Commission at the Stimson Centre, Washington, DC, USA, and the erstwhile Chairman of the UN-AU Union Hybrid Mission for the Darfur peace process, amongst others.
This important forum, according to international journalist-diplomat and former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Thailand with concurrent accreditation to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in Bangkok, Ambassador Oma Djebah, who is a co-host and founding Chairman of The New Diplomat, aims to unlock the Gulf of Guinea’s over $800 Billion energy, oil & gas, minerals, aviation and maritime investment opportunities.
According to Ambassador Djebah: “the high-level forum will also spotlight coastal Africa’s rich economy projected at $3trillion im order to harness the inherent benefits of its vast economic, investment, minerals, oil & gas, energy, aviation and maritime capabilities for the overall benefits of public and private sector players in the region.”
Ambassador Oma Djebah, also a former two-time Commissioner for Information, Delta State said the high-level roundtable would bring together global public-private sector players, including regional organizations chiefs, public-private sector leaders, energy, oil and gas, maritime, minerals and aviation organizations chiefs, development finance experts, cross-sector regulators, and others with the overarching objective of leveraging the abundant opportunities and potentials in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG)-a strategically crucial region on account of its vitality to regional and global energy, oil and gas, air lifting capabilities, logistics, minerals, infrastructure and maritime development.
Similarly, Ambassador Mohammed Bello Abioye, former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Pakistan with concurrent accreditation to the Maldives, who is co-host at the high-profile event said expected outcomes from the high-level roundtable, include strengthened economic development frameworks, enhanced investors’ confidence through clearer strategic institutional and governance frameworks, expanded networks for B2B, G2G, and P2P cooperation in maritime, oil and gas, energy, aviation, minerals and infrastructure development.
According to Ambassador Abioye, other objectives include unlocking funding/investment opportunities for both public and private sector players in the Gulf of Guinea region and facilitation of the creation of the Gulf of Guinea Business Council (GGBC) as a strategic regional business network and a nexus for private and public sector engagement in the GoG.
Ambassador Abioye further noted that the high-level roundtable will also focus on creating a unique forum for fostering strategic G2G, B2B, and P2P networks across international jurisdictions with eyes on investment prospects, direct access to target business markets, as well as potential cross-sector collaborations.
Additional objectives include the need to unlock the Gulf of Guinea’s over $800 billion energy, oil, and gas, infrastructure, and maritime business opportunities, as well as an outlined $3 trillion African coastal economy prospects.
The New Diplomat’s checks show that other strategic benefits of the one-day important event include catalyzing the Blue economy, Blue Diplomacy, and orgsnizational positioning within the evolving intra-African business eco-system and opportunities in the AfCFTA, and structured financing frameworks for large-scale projects in energy, oil & gas, aviation, minerals, and maritime sectors.
Other key benefits include fostering mechanisms for strengthened cooperation among the 19 coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea and the broader 38 African coastal nations, mobilizing investment in maritime, oil and gas, energy, aviation and minerals projects across the GoG region, supporting the GGC as a regional coordination hub, showcasing public -private collaboration models aligned with AFCFTA Agenda 2063, and SDG 14 (Life Below Water), as well as driving technical partnerships around logistics, airlifts, and maritime development.
