Beijing fortifies its international trade and financial channels, Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa has surged dramatically in recent years. Up to $21.7 billion was invested in Africa in 2023 alone through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative, a China-led global infrastructure project. Taken as a whole, state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China National Petroleum Corporation, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation rank as the fourth-largest energy investors in Africa. China's project portfolio in Africa is anticipated to increase significantly as new prospects in downstream processing, regional infrastructure, and upstream hydrocarbon production present themselves.
The African Energy Chamber (AEC), which represents the continent's energy industry, will pay a working visit to China in an attempt to encourage fresh investment and international collaborations, in light of the growing prospects for Chinese investors in Africa. Discussions about bankable projects, investment prospects, and China's growing influence in Africa's upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors will be the focus of bilateral meetings between a group led by AEC Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk and Chinese government representatives.
Chinese state-owned and private enterprises are focusing on utilizing Africa's oil and gas resources. These corporations already have a significant presence in the continent's mining and renewable energy sectors. Chinese oil and gas business Wing Wah is leading the way in a large-scale project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that aims to maximize resource monetization and encourage the usage of natural gas. With the help of previously flared gas and an inventive development plan for the Bango Kayo oilfield, output at the project is extended beyond the lifecycles of individual blocks. Wing Wah will gradually improve its capacity for processing and valuing gas in order to generate propane, butane, and LNG over the course of three phases. The project is positioned as a significant contributor to the nation's energy landscape by primarily focusing on fulfilling domestic demand and exporting excess gas worldwide.
China has made around $14 billion in investments in Angola over the last ten years, the most of which have been in energy. Chinese enterprises are currently looking for new prospects in upstream oil and gas while also expanding the construction of refining projects. A delegation of CNOOC executives visited Angola earlier this year to talk about potential investments in oil exploration. Block 24, a deepwater concession in Angola, is a possible investment that CNOOC is currently evaluating. In 2023, Angola's national oil company, Sonangol, and construction company China National Chemical Engineering inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of the 200,000 barrel per day Lobito Refinery, which is expected to be the largest in the nation.
In collaboration with Tanzanian and Ugandan national oil firms as well as energy giant TotalEnergies, CNOOC is building the East African Crude Oil Pipeline in East Africa. The 1,443-kilometer pipeline, which is expected to cost $5 billion, is intended to move crude from Tanzania's Port of Tanga to Uganda's Kingfisher and Tilenga oilfields. Of this, the project partners have already raised $2 billion, and the governments of Tanzania and Uganda are looking for a further $3 billion in loan financing, mostly from Chinese lenders including China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of China. Concurrently, CNOOC is in negotiations with South Sudan to increase output in Blocks 4/1B and 4/1C and is working with the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation to explore deep-sea blocks in that region.
With the increasing number of bankable oil and gas projects in Africa, Chinese investors will inevitably contribute more to the industry's overall development. With the help of robust multilateral connections forged by initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese businesses are increasingly becoming the go-to partners for upcoming oil and gas projects in Africa. Chinese businesses have the ability to spur development in Africa, which wants to eradicate energy poverty by 2030. This includes industries such as manufacturing, downstream infrastructure, upstream exploration, and power. Ayuk stated.