"I agree with the points made-and with Ayuk's case for the critical role that OPEC will play in helping African oil products achieve a much-deserved voice in the petroleum industry."
-OPEC Secretary-General, H.E. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo Two decades of negotiating African oil and gas deals have given NJ Ayuk a grasp of the continent's energy landscape that few can match. The American-educated, African energy lawyer serves up generous doses of that insight in his second book, Billions at Play: The Future of Africa Energy and Doing Deals.

Serving as a road map for the continent to do a better job of using its vast energy resources to improve its peoples' lives, Ayuk addresses how African countries can use their energy industries as springboards for diversifying and growing their overall economies.

In addition, Ayuk shows how African governments and local companies can negotiate better deals with international energy companies and how the continent's countries can use marginal oil and gas fields to develop domestic energy industries that, once strong, will compete globally.

Questions posed and answered:

Why Africa's fledgling natural gas resources can allow the continent to emerge as a key global player in the industry
What changes African countries can make in order to become attractive investment destinations
The role that access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable power can play in the acceleration of economic growth
Why and how American energy companies should stop curtailing their investments in Africa
And why the continent's energy industry needs more women

The book's underlying theme is that too often, natural resources create wealth for foreign investors and a select group of African elites while everyday people (and in turn, African economies) fail to benefit.

While it is easy to see that there is a lack of local participation in African projects and an ongoing challenge in securing necessary investment, we also need to understand our role in this. We have to understand the importance of creating enabling environments with attractive fiscal terms for local and foreign investors, the role of stronger local content policies in ensuring more local participation in the sector, and the weight government and political uncertainty carries in moving projects forward.

"It's up to Africans to fix Africa," writes Ayuk. This statement can be considered a living theme throughout the book as he encourages that local companies and governments have to enter into collaborative agreements rather than passive engagements with IOCs and majors. "[We need] investors who show that they want to fully participate with us, by coming in and building long-term sustainable businesses that last and make a profit, create jobs and further development."

If you're ready to dive headfirst into accessing a frank analysis and examination of the African energy landscape and how Africans can begin to fix Africa, jump into the pages of Billions at Play.

Auteur

NJ Ayuk is founder and CEO of Pan-African corporate law conglomerate, Centurion Law Group; Founder and Executive Chair-man of the African Energy Chamber; and author of Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing Deals and co-au-thor of Big Barrels: African Oil and Gas and the Quest for Prosperity. He is recognized as one of the foremost figures in African business today.

A Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum, one of Forbes' Top 10 Most Influential Men in Africa in 2015, and a well-known dealmaker in the petroleum and power sectors, NJ is dedicating his career to helping entrepreneurs find success and to building the careers of young African lawyers. NJ strives through his work to ensure that business, and especially oil and gas, impacts African societies in a positive way and drives local content development.

NJ graduated from the University of Maryland College Park and earned a Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law and an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology.

Contenu

Table of Contents

Foreword
Chapter 1: It's High Time for African Oil and Gas to Fuel a Better Future for Africans
Chapter 2: It's Up to Africans to Fix Africa
Chapter 3: A Place at the Table: Africa and OPEC
Chapter 4: Empowering Women for a Stronger, Healthier Oil and Gas Industry
Chapter 5: Abundant, Accessible, Affordable: The "Golden Age" of Natural Gas Shines in Africa
Chapter 6: Monetizing Natural Resources: Successes, Lessons, and Risk
Chapter 7: Job Creation: Making Our Own Multiplier Effect
Chapter 8: A "Recipe" for Economic Diversification
Chapter 9: Calling All Leaders! More on Good Governance
Chapter 10: Industrialization: Linking Promise to Prosperity
Chapter 11: Technological Solutions for Oil and Gas
Chapter 12: Oil and Gas Companies Can Help Reshape African Economies
Chapter 13: Following Nigeria's Lead on Marginal Fields
Chapter 14: The Critical Art of Deal-Making: It's Time to Negotiate for a Better Future
Chapter 15: The Connection Between Energy Security and Social Security
Chapter 16: Managing Oil and Gas Revenue
Chapter 17: American Ingenuity and Africa Oil and Gas Potential
Chapter 18: How We'll Recover From COVID-19
Chapter 19: Lights Out: Reforming African Power Generation Monopolies and Transitioning to the Future
Concluding Thoughts