Our purpose in the region is to enable our Africa based membership access AAPG programs and services with greater ease for the advancement of their career and the development of the petroleum industry in Africa, and to help our Africa based members have a stronger voice and greater participation in the affairs of the AAPG. Our programs have witnessed growth and increased participation from members across the Region. We are committed to achieving our goals and shall continue to put in tireless efforts towards their accomplishment in the Region. We welcome you to be a part of us.
Our purpose in the region is to enable our Africa based membership access AAPG programs and services with greater ease for the advancement of their career and the development of the petroleum industry in Africa, and to help our Africa based members have a stronger voice and greater participation in the affairs of the AAPG. Our commitment to our goals over the years has seen the growth of our membership base from under 500 in 1999 to over 3,000 members presently, and we are forging ahead to further develop our regional presence.
2013 saw the establishment of the Africa Region Office in Lagos, Nigeria & the hiring of the Region's Programs Manager. The year also witnessed the inauguration of our Angola Chapter, the hosting of Dr. Henry W. Posamentier to a Distinguished Lectureship Program in Lagos, Nigeria, and the maiden field trip of the AAPG Angola Chapter. in 2014 a joint SPE-AAPG distinguished lecture with Prof. John G. Kaldi was held in Tunis. This was followed by Prof. Terry Engelder's Regional lecture in Cairo.
Students and YPs in the Region have benefited from several networking, mentoring and educational events events, some of which have been held in collaboration with our affiliates. So far, the Africa Region has held three Local student chapter leadership events (L-SCLS) to ensure the growth of our student chapters across the Region. The Africa Region now has forty two Student Chapters across Africa. Our Young Professionals have been actively involved in organizing various geoscience competitions including the IBA Simulation in Egypt and the Basin Evaluation Competition in Nigeria, and have been involved in the IBA competition in various capacities. A new student chapter and YP group were established in South Africa in 2014.
Over the years, the AAPG Africa leadership has worked hard to see increased participation of African Universities in the Imperial Barrel Award competition. The 2014 IBA competition had eighteen participating schools. The Regional event saw the emergence of the University of Western Cape, South Africa take first position and represent the Africa region at the global IBA finals in Houston, USA in April 2014. Twenty two universities have registered for the 2015 IBA competition.
Our activities and accomplishments show our commitment to achieving our goals and we shall continue to put in tireless efforts in this regard. Thanks go to members of the region’s leadership, programs coordinators, affiliated societies and volunteers for their support in various capacities, and to all our sponsors for their financial and technical contributions.
AAPG’s success as a professional society is highly dependent on the relevance and value of our programs and services and as such, we shall be hosting technical events which shall be enriching to our members in terms of technical content and relevance. We shall also continue to improve student chapter events and activities, foster cooperation with our affiliates and work towards closing gaps in regional communication through our e-newsletter.