SABA Brings West African Energy Leaders to Aberdeen as Regional Opportunities Grow
The Scottish Africa Business Association (SABA) is bringing a high-level delegation of senior energy leaders from West Africa to Aberdeen this September, creating new opportunities for Scottish and UK companies looking to expand their international reach.
The four-day West Africa Delegation to Scotland, taking place from 1–4 September 2026, will coincide with the Energy Exports Conference at P&J Live on 2–3 September. The delegation will bring together senior representatives from across the West African energy sector, including decision-makers, project developers, operators, service providers and investors.
SABA CEO, Frazer Lang, and Chief Operating Officer, Seona Shand, will both be speaking at the Energy Exports Conference alongside members of the delegation, helping to connect the West African market directly with the expertise and capabilities of Scotland’s energy sector.
The programme goes beyond conference attendance, with SABA facilitating targeted meetings between delegates and Scottish and UK businesses, alongside industry discussions and other activities designed to create practical commercial connections.
For UK companies, West Africa represents a market with significant and increasingly diverse energy requirements. The region has substantial oil and gas resources and established energy industries, while also facing a major need for additional generation capacity, transmission infrastructure, renewable energy, energy storage and technologies that can improve reliability and efficiency.
The scale of the opportunity is significant. The World Bank has committed $1.6 billion to a programme supporting regional power integration and energy access in West Africa, while more than 4,000 kilometres of high-voltage transmission infrastructure now connects the electricity grids of 15 West African countries through the West African Power Pool.
At the same time, the wider African energy market is undergoing a major transformation. Around 600 million people across sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity and investment is needed across grid infrastructure, generation, distributed energy and clean technologies.
This creates opportunities for companies with expertise in areas including offshore and onshore energy, engineering, subsea services, asset management, digital technology, energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery storage, hydrogen, power systems and professional services.
UK companies are particularly well placed to engage with these markets. The UK already has strong commercial relationships across West Africa and established expertise in energy, engineering and technology. In Ghana, for example, a new UK–Ghana Growth Partnership for 2026–2028 is focused on trade, infrastructure, investment and private-sector-led growth.
Seona Shand, COO of SABA, said: “West Africa’s energy story is changing rapidly. There is huge demand for reliable energy, new infrastructure and technology, but also a growing focus on how existing energy resources can support long-term economic development and the transition to a lower-carbon future.
"For Scottish and UK companies, this presents a real commercial opportunity. The expertise built up across Aberdeen and the wider UK energy sector is highly relevant to the challenges and opportunities emerging across West Africa. Our role is to make those connections more direct, helping businesses move beyond simply understanding a market to identifying the right people, projects and partnerships.
“Bringing senior West African energy leaders to Aberdeen gives both sides the opportunity to have meaningful conversations and explore where Scottish and UK capability can add value.”
Frazer Lang, CEO of SABA, added: “Aberdeen has a global reputation for energy expertise and West Africa is one of the markets where that expertise can make a real difference. We’re delighted to bring this delegation to Scotland and to create opportunities for businesses on both sides to explore new commercial relationships.”
The delegation reflects SABA’s wider work to build practical links between Scotland and African markets through inward delegations, trade missions, business meetings and sector-focused events.
For Scottish and UK businesses interested in accessing West African energy markets, the delegation offers an opportunity to engage directly with senior decision-makers while they are in Aberdeen.
The West Africa Delegation to Scotland takes place from 1–4 September 2026.
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