Mozambique Energy Chamber withdraws from London Africa Energies Summit

The Mozambique Energy Chamber (MEC) has announced that its members will withdraw from attending the Africa Energies Summit hosted by Frontier Energy Network in London on May 12 – 14.

The decision follows last week’s call by the African Energy Chamber (AEC) for African oil and gas companies to boycott the upcoming event over local content representation concerns.

There is a growing frustration among African industry stakeholders that platforms claiming to represent Africa’s energy sector fail to reflect the values of inclusion, fairness and local participation, the AEC said in a media statement on March 16.

According to the AEC, Frontier Energy Network, led by its founder and CEO Gayle Meikle and COO Daniel Davidson, has refused to end the policy of not hiring Black professionals and set out a plan for workforce diversity. As the Africa Energies Summit generates most of its revenues from Africa, these practices effectively amount to an intentional lock-out of Black professionals, the chamber stated.

Mozambique Energy Chamber president Florival Mucave said that the behaviour of Frontier’s leadership towards the hiring of Black professionals was something that many Mozambicans and Africans found offensive.

“In 2026, this is not the behaviour that we expect from anyone who uses the name Africa and our oil and gas sector,” he added. “Our members will not be going to London.”

Mozambique’s withdrawal from the summit is significant given its growing role in the global gas market. The country holds some of the largest recent gas discoveries and is becoming an important player in the LNG sector. After delays over security issues in the region, major projects are now moving forward again.

The Mozambique LNG project by France’s supermajor TotalEnergies (EPA/NYSE/LSE:TTE) fully restarted in January 2026 after force majeure was lifted in 2025, with construction resuming and thousands of workers on site, most of them local. First LNG is expected in 2029.

Meanwhile, the Rovuma LNG project, led by US energy giant ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) is progressing toward a final investment decision (FID) in 2026. Major offshore projects are also moving ahead with Italy’s Eni (BIT:ENI, NYSE:E) advancing its Coral North FLNG project, which reached FID in 2025 and is on track to start operations in 2028.

“Mozambique understands all too well what it means when citizens are not happy with the oil and gas sector,” Mucave noted. “We saw a response with the uprising in the north that stalled major gas projects. Our country is experiencing big debates around local content and community involvement.”

As Mozambique’s major gas projects return to the development pipeline, the industry leaders should ensure that the sector remains inclusive and supportive of African professionals. The MEC believes it will be critical not only for Mozambique’s success but also for the credibility of Africa’s broader energy narrative.

“Failure to maintain an oil and gas industry culture that fosters innovation, collaboration and inclusion in Africa will only disrupt gas operations, create doubts about the industry and adversely affect our industry as well as our future success both for Mozambicans and Africans,” Mucave said. “The oil industry should not destroy the goodwill Africans have shown to them over the last few years by supporting platforms that Africans see as insulting to their children,” he concluded.