The Gambia’s petroleum sector made a strong showing at the recently concluded Africa Energies Summit 2026, held in London from May 11 to 14, 2026, with the country showcasing its upstream potential and engaging prospective investors and industry partners.
The Gambian delegation was led by the Honourable Minister for Petroleum, Energy and Mines, Hon. Nani Juwara, and included the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Mr Abdoulie Jallow; the Director General of the Petroleum Commission, Engr. Cany Jobe; the Deputy Managing Director of the Gambia National Petroleum Corporation, Mr Muhammed Jawara; the Director of Petroleum at the Ministry, Mr Sheick Omar Bittaye; and the Data Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Mr Siddy Mendy.
The Summit brought together more than 800 delegates from international oil companies, governments, regulators, national oil companies, geophysical service providers, legal and advisory firms, investors and other stakeholders across Africa’s energy sector.
Throughout the event, The Gambia maintained a well-managed exhibition booth showcasing the country’s petroleum potential within the MSGBC Basin.
The booth highlighted The Gambia’s strategic location, improving data coverage, open exploration opportunities and commitment to a transparent, rules-based investment environment.
It attracted interest and enquiries from a broad range of participants, including explorers, geophysical service providers, data companies, advisory firms and government institutions. Discussions focused on exploration opportunities, data improvement, reconnaissance activities, petroleum systems analysis, data marketing and future technical collaboration.
As part of the Summit programme, Permanent Secretary Abdoulie Jallow delivered The Gambia’s country showcase and briefing under the theme: “The Gambia: Unlocking Exploration Potential and Positioning for First Investment.”
The presentation positioned The Gambia as a promising offshore frontier within the MSGBC Basin and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to a transparent, stable and investor-friendly petroleum sector.
It highlighted improving geological confidence, strengthened regulatory oversight, clearer investment frameworks and opportunities across upstream exploration, petroleum storage, bunkering, LPG infrastructure, downstream logistics, power and regional supply services.
Engr. Cany Jobe, Director General of the Petroleum Commission, participated in two high-level panel discussions during the Summit.
In the panel discussion on “West Africa and MSGBC: Country Strategies, Basin Data and Commercial Pathways,” she appeared alongside Samuel Essoh of PETROCI, Fabian Lai of NOCAL Liberia, Erling Frantzen of Viridien and Johnny Chigbo of TGS.
Engr. Jobe spoke on The Gambia’s evolving investor proposition, noting that the country should be viewed not as a vague frontier opportunity, but as an emerging opportunity with structure.
She highlighted The Gambia’s dedicated regulator, improving institutional framework, model petroleum agreement with competitive entry terms and growing technical database.
She further noted that modern seismic coverage, regional integration studies and post-well analysis have helped shift investor discussions from general basin interest to more focused technical evaluation.
In a second panel discussion titled “Building Africa’s Stability, Credibility and Trust: The Real Currency of Investment,” Engr. Jobe joined Joanna Kuenssberg of Shell International BV, Valerie Marcel of New Producers for Sustainable Energy, Huw Charles of The Risk Advisory Group, Akshai Fofaria of Pinsent Masons and Armando Zamora of New Producers for Sustainable Energy.
During the discussion, she addressed the importance of predictable frameworks, credible state participation and investment terms that protect national value without discouraging exploration activity.
She emphasised that, for frontier jurisdictions, regulatory credibility is built through discipline, consistency and alignment between policy, licensing and implementation.
On the margins of the Summit, the delegation also held meetings with representatives of international oil companies, geophysical service providers, data companies and technical partners interested in supporting data enhancement and exploration promotion efforts in The Gambia.
Following the Summit, members of The Gambian delegation joined senior representatives from other participating countries at a leadership seminar on licensing and contracts, organised by New Producers for Sustainable Energy in collaboration with Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, The Risk Advisory Group and Westwood Energy.
The seminar focused on critical licensing, fiscal and contractual issues shaping exploration investment across Africa, including direct negotiations and competitive bidding rounds, petroleum fiscal regimes, production sharing agreements, cost recovery structures, investment risk, and how different categories of companies assess opportunities in frontier and early-stage petroleum jurisdictions.
The country’s participation at the Africa Energies Summit is expected to further strengthen investor confidence and public interest in The Gambia’s oil and gas exploration sector.
It also demonstrated the continuous technical, commercial and institutional work being undertaken to position The Gambia as a credible, responsible and investment-ready frontier petroleum jurisdiction.
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