The Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC 2026) will take place at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos from February 10-12, 2026, marking the event’s 10th anniversary and a renewed focus on local capacity building and African energy value creation.
SAIPEC 2026 is once again hosted in strategic partnership with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), NNPC Ltd, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and AOS Orwell, alongside over 30 national oil companies, regulators, and government agencies from across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Launched in 2017 as WAIPEC, SAIPEC has evolved from a 148-delegate regional event into a premier pan-African energy conference.
In 2026, more than 1,400 delegates and 23 national oil companies are expected, alongside an exhibition that has grown from 35 exhibitors to over 150 — cementing SAIPEC’s influence across Africa’s energy value chain.
“We are very excited about this impressive SAIPEC milestone and look forward to bringing forth the African energy industry to the world,” said Conference Chairman of SAIPEC and PETAN, Mr. Ibe Chubby Ibe.
“SAIPEC is the ideal platform to ensure that the energy industry we operate in fully leverages Africa’s resources, minerals and energy sources to drive development and power populations across the continent. This means building real capacity within the industry and fostering cross-regional collaboration, so that energy resources are domesticated and generate value for other industries and technology platforms,” added Mr. Ibe, who is consistent voice for African-led energy development.
The conference places a strong emphasis on implementation and policy alignment, with policymakers, regulators and political decision-makers embedded across sessions alongside operators and service providers.
The three-day programme opens with high-level government and industry engagements, followed by regulatory discussions focused on unlocking exploration and production growth.
Selected country spotlight sessions will highlight upstream, midstream and refining opportunities, while an Investment Forum will examine capital deployment, financing mechanisms and risk management.
Day two will centre on Africa’s gas opportunity, addressing LNG development, domestic gas infrastructure and regional collaboration, alongside focused local content discussions.
New features include in-country roundtables, a Local Content Pitching Session and an expanded technical conference aimed at project execution and technology transfer.
Beyond the agenda, Mr Ibe said Africa must rethink its export-led energy model as global demand continues to rise.
“Most of Africa’s oil and gas resources have historically been exported to Europe, Asia and America,” he said.
“It is now time to look inward and see how we can process these resources ourselves to create more value. We need to develop the technology to refine here, rather than exporting our resources for refining elsewhere,” continued Mr. Ibe.
“Africa should be positioned as the world’s home for energy needs, not a continent that looks outside for them. For me, SAIPEC is a platform where we can have these discussions and look at what Africa can do for itself internally,” he concluded.
For more information about SAIPEC 2026 and to see the full programme visit here.
