The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has opened nominations for the second phase of NextWave Seafarers, an initiative that gives cadets from developing countries the onboard experience they need to qualify as officers.

SOUTH AFRICA: The Africa Energy Bank (AEB) will become operational within weeks and begin financing projects at the start of 2027, Farid Ghezali, Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), said during the technical panel of the GECF-AEC Strategic Forum at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town yesterday

SOUTH AFRICA:  Ghana’s offshore sector is shifting from license negotiations to new drilling and long-term development, with Minister of Energy and Green Transition John Abdulai Jinapor announcing at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 that national crude oil production has increased by 30%. The milestone reverses five years of sustained decline and follows a $2 billion memorandum of understanding signed with Jubilee partner Kosmos Energy in 2025.

ANGOLA: Angolan National Oil Company Sonangol is advancing plans for an initial public offering (IPO) while expanding its upstream portfolio and investing in Angola’s domestic refining capacity, as the national oil company charts its next phase of growth following its 50th anniversary in 2026.

ANGOLA: Seadrill Limited’s activity in Angola has been included in a list of contract extensions announced yesterday.

Media reports highlight the issues facing merchant ships. Over two days in early October, drones struck four merchant ships in the Black Sea. On 5 October the Turkish-owned grain carrier Royad Mammadov, sailing from the Ukrainian port of Izmail to Ravenna in Italy, caught fire and sank inside Romania's exclusive economic zone.

South Africa, together with Chile and Georgia, has brought the key findings of a wide-ranging study before the International Maritime Organization (IMO), arguing that underwater noise from ships should be formally recognised as a form of marine pollution. The findings were submitted to the 85th session of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC).

SENEGAL: International Maritime Organization (IMO) consultants undertook a needs assessment mission last week to inspect existing port processes and institutional frameworks to identify requirements for establishing a maritime single window system (MSW).