By NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber (https://EnergyChamber.org/).
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi has never stopped making Africa his and Eni’s first choice for investment.
I know Mr. Descalzi as a shrewd negotiator, a disciplined CEO, and a strong advocate of natural gas development on our continent. As he champions African energy independence and sovereignty, natural gas has been and remains key to his work in Africa.
Even during difficult times, he has persisted in furthering his company’s investments in Africa, as he did following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At that critical time, he encouraged the EU to consider imports from Africa to replace Russian petroleum, including the 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas Italy was importing annually.
As a longtime promoter of African energy potential, Descalzi has overseen major hydrocarbon projects in countries from Congo to Libya to Nigeria — both oil and natural gas. Under his leadership, Eni has launched some of the continent’s fastest-moving liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects while prioritizing low carbon output.
Along with the business side of his role, the CEO has encouraged the company’s country managers and executives to take on many social responsibility efforts in Africa.
On a more personal note, when you talk to many African President’s, Ministers and business leaders, he is always a source of wise counsel — something I see as the mark of a true legend. He is always willing to work with others and share his experiences and knowledge about doing business in other markets.
The Man and the Company
A native of Milan and a 1979 physics graduate of the city’s namesake university, Descalzi has a deep history with Eni, having started in 1981 as a field petroleum engineer. His broad understanding of the industry and the company has been forged within many roles of increasing responsibility — in Africa, the Middle East, China, and — from 2010 to 2014 —as Chairman of Eni UK.
In May of 2014, he took on the role of CEO for Eni.
Among the founding CEOs of the 2014 Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, Descalzi is also a member of the European Round Table for Industry and co-chair of the Oil and Gas Governors Community of the World Economic Forum.
A Visiting Fellow at The University of Oxford, he has received many significant industry awards, among them the esteemed Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the American Institute of Mining Engineers.
To its great credit, Eni has been working in Africa since the 1950s to develop the continent’s resources and form partnerships that secure a supply of natural gas and advance the world’s energy transition.
Those efforts, employing a mix of traditional, renewable, and bio energy, are making progress toward the 2050 Net Zero target in 13 African countries. It’s also important to note that the company employs thousands in Africa, and that 80% of the gas it produces there goes to local markets.
Eni Activity in Africa Under Descalzi’s Leadership
Egypt, Algeria, and Libya have been cornerstones of Eni’s African presence. Eni’s history in Libya began in 1959 with the acquisition of its first concession. After a 10-year hiatus in onshore drilling in Libya, caused primarily by the country’s civil war, Descalzi made sure that Eni was one of the first companies to re-enter the country in 2024.
Eni’s activities in Algeria date back to the early 1980s, and Algeria remains one of the company’s largest suppliers of gas to Europe.
Egypt, meanwhile, gained global attention in 2015 with Eni’s Zohr discovery, one of the largest gas finds ever in the Mediterranean.
Eni now plans to invest close to USD9 billion each in Algeria and Egypt, as well as Libya, over the next four years. Descalzi has stated (https://apo-opa.co/46MtAlb), “Internal demand in these countries — because of demographic growth — is increasing at about 7 to 8% every year, this means they need gas … they need investment.”
In Angola, I was lucky to have been with Mr. Descalzi when his efforts alongside BP to launch the Agogo floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel and to form the first major international oil company (IOC) joint venture in Africa, Azule Energy. During a recent meeting with Angolan President Lourenco in Luanda, the two leaders talked about Azule’s exploration and delivery achievements. They noted that the Agogo, planned to become the first carbon-neutral FPSO in Angola, began production 10 months ahead of the original plan.
As the biggest independent equity oil and gas producer in Angola, Azule Energy holds 18 licenses, 11 of which are operating and producing a total of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Congo: In 2023, Descalzi was instrumental in launching the Congo LNG project, encompassing the installation of two floating LNG (FLNG) plants to process gas from the country’s current and future fields, helping foster European energy security, while providing sufficient gas for Africa. Tango FLNG, with a 0.6 million tons per annum (MTPA) capacity, began production in December 2023. Nguya FLNG is set to begin production (2.4 MTPA) by the end of this year, boosting the total capacity of the project to 3 MTPA.
In Côte d’Ivoire, under Descalzi’s leadership, Eni has been working since 2015, and is currently working in 10 deepwater blocks.
Eni’s Baleine field offshore project is the first net-zero upstream project in the world for Scope 1 and 2 emissions. After Eni fast-tracked the building project, it went from discovery to first oil in less than 19 months.
Baleine Phase 1 began production in 2023, and Phase 2 started producing in December 2024. Phase 2 is expected to meet local energy needs by connecting with pipeline constructed during Phase 1 and solidifying Côte d’Ivoire’s status as a producer.
Elsewhere on the continent: In Mozambique, while many companies evacuated due to escalating violence and terror attacks in Cabo Delgado province since 2017, the CEO chose to proceed with Eni’s Coral South and Coral Norte FLNG projects, achieving a final investment decision (FID) for Coral South in 2017 and advancing Coral Norte to pre-FID stage, despite serious security concerns. In Namibia, Descalzi is looking toward more exploration. And, as a legacy producer in Nigeria, Eni, under his leadership, plans to continue working on deepwater and LNG projects, while expanding into the agri-feedstock sector as per the company’s 2023-2026 plan (https://apo-opa.co/3IakaGU).
Social Responsibility Efforts
Eni’s social responsibility initiatives include something very dear to Descalzi’s heart — facilitating clean cooking in sub-Saharan Africa.
Currently, approximately 1 billion Africans lack access to clean cooking. The African Energy Chamber is heartened to see Descalzi’s efforts on this front, including Angola’s Clean Cooking Program, begun in 2024, which already benefits over 500,000 residents in seven of the country’s provinces. He is pushing to get 2 million people in the country access to clean cooking technology very quickly.
On the employment front, Descalzi is ensuring the training and development of Africans — and that they are hired at the highest levels. He is also empowering African women by providing jobs throughout the company. Countless African women can tell stories of him giving them opportunities in the industry.
I would compare Mr. Descalzi to Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergies, in his engagement with African presidents. He personally goes to each country Eni operates in, unlike most CEOs. He builds personal relationships with presidents and ministers, showing a humility that has made him one of the most favorite CEOs among the IOCs in Africa.
This was illustrated in his September 2025 meetings with Angola’s President Lourenco, where the two talked about Azule’s continuing work on the health, education, and economic diversification fronts. This work includes support for Luanda’s Cardiopulmonary Hospital Complex, business training and financial education programs, and construction and rehabilitation of 14 facilities to help educate over 17,000 children.
His style is not to stop with getting to know the well-knowns, either. He sits with young Africans and jokes with them, motivates and encourages them.
We Applaud Descalzi
It is fitting that we applaud a man who has made a global energy giant a truly African company. Eni’s expertise is evident in all it does in Africa, with its great exploration teams and the projects it completes in a timely, technically savvy way.
In his own quiet way, without international fanfare, Descalzi has worked to the benefit of Africa and Africans.
Descalzi’s care for Africa shows; although he oversees operations across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, he engages the most with Africa, making Africa the largest part of his work.
In short, Africa is part of his family.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.