Across the continent, from Angola’s oilfields to Kenya’s geothermal power plant, a similar pattern emerges: assets once managed exclusively by foreign entities are transitioning to hybrid models or a local ownership.
These arrangements combine international operational standards with African market knowledge, creating entities that serve both global markets and domestic priorities. But what we’re witnessing isn’t mere asset transfer, but the emergence of a new economic pragmatism – one where Africa’s resources fuel its own industrial transformation, while maintaining global connectivity.
Kenyan-based Gulf Energy’s recent acquisition of Tullow Oil’s Kenya assets exemplifies this gathering momentum spreading across Africa’s economic landscape.
Rather than abrupt nationalisations or exclusionary policies, this continent-wide transition reflects maturing markets, a stronger African private sector and evolving partnerships.
Deals like this demonstrate how African firms are leveraging global expertise to build sustainable local capacity. This isn’t about rejecting foreign involvement - but redefining its terms.
Look across Africa, and indigenous ownership is thriving – and delivering real results. Take Nigeria for example: over the last five years, Nigerian owned companies such as Seplat and Oando have acquired significant energy assets, from international companies like Shell, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies.
The result? Approximately 30 percent of the country’s crude oil and gas reserves is now contributed by indigenous companies, a fivefold increase in 20 years. In addition, domestic companies have expanded beyond a purely export model, with refining, supply and gas-based industrialisation growing rapidly.
Yet, it's important to recognise that achievements like this are not born in a vacuum. They are, in many ways, the latest chapter in a long and complex story – one that begins with the colonial era, where Africa’s resource wealth was extracted for the benefit of foreign powers.
The continent’s mineral wealth was mapped and divided; infrastructure was built to extract natural resources to serve distant markets; legal and economic systems were established to facilitate this.
In the era of independence, we must concede that foreign investment still dominates, but it has brought with it capital, operational expertise and new technology. These elements have laid the groundwork for modern resource industries – whether it be developing resource assets, constructing pipelines or establishing supply chains.
Today, foreign investment strategies are shifting – major companies are divesting, whether it be because of environmental pressures, market disruptions, or evolving national policies. And this is where homegrown African operators are stepping in. Not as novices, but as inheritors of a robust industrial legacy.
The recent creation of Azule Energy, a new independent joint venture formed by the merger of Eni and bp’s Angolan operations, is emblematic of this transition.
Now Angola’s largest oil producer, Azule Energy holds over 200,000 barrels equivalent a day of net oil and gas production and two billion barrels equivalent of net resources. This new African-led entity is leveraging the technical expertise, operational standards, and global networks established by its multinational predecessors, while adapting operations to local realities and national priorities.
This pattern is echoed across the continent. Privatisation programmes and regulatory reforms - often shaped by international actors - have created pathways for local ownership. African companies are not merely maintaining inherited systems, but are adapting and improving them: optimising production, investing in downstream capacity, and deepening local supply chains.
In Namibia, for instance, community-managed conservancies - initially supported by international agencies - now generate millions in revenue and provide critical local employment.
Beyond the oil and gas sector, indigenous innovation and local ownership are also driving transformation in Africa’s energy landscape.
In Kenya, for example, homegrown solutions like M-KOPA Solar have revolutionised access to electricity for over a million households by offering affordable, pay-as-you-go solar systems tailored to local economic realities. This model not only addresses energy poverty but also creates jobs and fosters economic empowerment within communities.
Similarly, large-scale projects such as the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project and the Olkaria Geothermal Power Plant demonstrate how local engagement and collaboration with communities can maximise efficiency and ensure long-term sustainability.
These initiatives highlight that when African expertise, community participation, and tailored business models converge, the result is not just increased energy access, but also broader social and economic development.
Consistent support from host governments has also underpinned many of these local success stories.
In Ghana, for example, targeted initiatives such as the Ghana Oil and Gas for Inclusive Growth (GOGIG) programme have strengthened institutional capacity, clarified regulatory frameworks, and improved revenue management.
These efforts have enabled domestic firms to play a more active role in the sector, and ensured that resource revenues contribute to wider national development.
Ghana’s experience underscores how thoughtful, sustained government engagement can create the enabling environment needed for indigenous companies to grow - alongside international partners.
Crucially, this new wave of indigenous acquisition is not about rejecting all foreign involvement, but about reclaiming agency and building on what has come before. It is a process of transformation, where the groundwork of the past is being is finally being harnessed by Africans, for Africans including increasing African capital flows.
The result is a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable resource sector - one where Africans are not just resource custodians, but value creators, owners and industry leaders.
The writer is former British Conservative politician.
