H.E. Farid Ghezali is Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), the intergovernmental organisation of 18 African member countries that promotes cooperation in the continent’s oil and gas sector. He took office in January 2026 following his appointment at the 48th Ordinary Session of the APPO Ministerial Council in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, and leads APPO as it works with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to launch the Africa Energy Bank.

An Algerian national, Ghezali has more than 33 years of experience in the energy and hydrocarbons sector. He holds a chemical engineering degree from the Algerian Petroleum Institute (IAP), specialising in liquefied natural gas, and spent much of his career at Sonatrach, Algeria’s national oil and gas company. His roles there included Vice-President for Strategy, Economic Studies and Institutional Planning from 2017 to 2020, adviser to the chief executive from 2020, Director of Studies and Planning for pipeline transport, and a senior marketing role covering the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline project.

Ghezali also served as Director of Operations at In Salah Gas Services in The Hague, the Netherlands, and has contributed to work within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). His experience covers strategic and market analysis, business planning, project management and international negotiations. At APPO he succeeded Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim of Nigeria.

His roadmap for APPO centres on promoting local content in Africa’s oil and gas activities, intra-African training and research and development, and the launch of the Africa Energy Bank to help finance energy projects on the continent. He has described local content as a strategic imperative for turning Africa’s resources into lasting prosperity, and has urged member countries to strengthen intra-African cooperation, find home-grown solutions and speak with one voice on the international stage.