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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2009) - Africa Oil Corp. ("Africa Oil" or "the Company") (TSX VENTURE:AOI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Bryan Benitz to the Board of Directors.

Brian Benitz brings over 40 years of financial markets expertise and investment banking experience to the Company. He graduated from Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1951 and received his early investment banking training at Wisener & Company in Canada.

As a result of mergers in the early 1970's Walwyn Stodgell Cochran Murray was created, a large investment banking firm headquartered in Toronto. Mr. Benitz, as Director, was the Member Seatholder of both the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges and held responsibility for the international business of the firm.

In 1982 he returned to England with Walwyn Stodgell and created Benitz and Partners in 1988. The firm specialized in corporate finance, raising risk capital for natural resource companies.

Throughout his career Bryan Benitz has been closely linked with the petroleum industry, particularly in Canada. Most recently, he was a senior board member of Tanganyika Oil, which was the subject of a highly successful $2.1 billion takeover by Sinopec. He is currently a director and Chairman of MagIndustries Corp.

The Company also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 100,000 incentive stock options to a director of the Company. The options are exercisable, subject to vesting provisions, over a period of three years at a price of $1.00 per share.

Africa Oil Corp. is a Canadian oil and gas company with assets in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Africa Oil's East African holdings are in what is considered a truly world-class exploration play fairway. The Company's total gross land package in this prolific region is in excess of 200,000 square kilometers - an area roughly the size of Great Britain. The East African Rift Basin system is one of the last of the great rift basins to be explored. New discoveries have been announced on all sides of Africa Oil's virtually unexplored land position including the major Heritage/Tullow Albert Graben oil discovery in neighbouring Uganda. Similar to the Albert Graben play model, Africa Oil's concessions have older wells, a legacy database, and host numerous oil seeps indicating a proven petroleum system. Good quality existing seismic show robust leads and prospects throughout Africa Oil's project areas. The Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "AOI".

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Rick Schmitt"
President

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.