Volz Leads US Energy Push at AEW 2026

The United States is widening its engagement with Africa’s energy sector, combining government-backed finance, technology partnerships and private-sector investment across markets from Mozambique and Nigeria to Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Josh Volz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe, Eurasia, Africa and the Middle East at the U.S. Department of Energy, will bring that agenda to African Energy Week 2026 in Cape Town from October 12-16.

Volz returns to AEW as Washington’s engagement with African energy markets increasingly spans both hydrocarbons and electricity infrastructure. In April, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency brought energy decision-makers from the DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to the U.S. to meet American companies working on transmission and distribution technologies, including AI-enabled grid systems.

The program was designed to connect U.S. technology providers with prospective projects and procurement opportunities in African power markets.

Mozambique illustrates the scale that U.S. financing can bring to an African gas project. In March 2025, the U.S. Export-Import Bank approved a nearly $5 billion loan for TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG development, reviving a financing package for the long-delayed project.

The original $4.7 billion commitment had been approved during the first Trump administration but required reapproval after construction was suspended in 2021. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil and its Area 4 partners awarded approximately $1.1 billion in pre-investment contracts for long-lead equipment and early construction activities at the Rovuma LNG project in August.

Development finance is another part of the equation. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation’s investment ceiling rose from $60 billion to $205 billion following its 2025 reauthorisation, while the agency gained expanded authority covering international investments in strategic sectors including energy and critical minerals. The new authorisation runs through 2031.

The DFC has also continued to approve new transactions in Africa in 2026. On September 16, the agency announced more than $8 billion in new investments globally, including projects supporting infrastructure and resources across Africa, as part of an effort to promote U.S. exports, energy security and American technology.

U.S. companies such as GE Vernova are active across African power markets, providing generation, transmission, grid and software technologies. The company says its technology is installed in more than 50 countries across the Middle East and Africa; in Nigeria alone, its equipment is installed across more than 40 sites, while its grid technology has also supported regional integration through the West African Power Pool.

Energy access is another emerging strand of Washington’s engagement. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright co-chaired the July 2026 high-level summit on clean cooking in Africa alongside Kenyan President William Ruto, Norway and the International Energy Agency. The meeting produced $900 million in new commitments, taking total commitments since the 2024 Africa Clean Cooking Summit to more than $3.1 billion. Wright described clean cooking as a major but often overlooked energy-access challenge.

Volz has previously argued that African countries should determine their own energy pathways while the United States looks for ways to partner with them. Speaking at AEW 2025, he said: “International governments should not stand in the way of how African nations determine their energy futures. We are eager to hear how best we can, from a U.S. perspective, partner with Africa.” He also pointed to $65 billion in existing U.S. private-sector investment in Africa and a $2.5 billion U.S. government pledge to support energy expansion.

That approach will have a substantial U.S. presence at AEW 2026. The current program confirms Volz alongside U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, United States Energy Association President and CEO Mark W. Menezes and DFC Managing Director and Regional Head of Africa Vibhuti Jain, among other U.S.-linked executives and policymakers. Jain will also participate in the dedicated U.S.-Africa Energy & Investment Forum on October 14, which will bring together U.S. and African companies, investors and policymakers to discuss capital, technology and commercial partnerships.

“The DFC is better resourced than it has ever been, making this an opportune moment for African operators to make their case. This conference is about making sure the capital and the projects actually find each other,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

For African energy markets, the expanding U.S. role reaches across project finance, LNG, upstream development, electricity infrastructure, grid technology and clean cooking. Volz’s participation at AEW 2026 comes as those relationships increasingly move from broad policy discussions toward individual projects, commercial partnerships and technology deployment across the continent.