Energy financing to dominate Abuja petroleum roundtable

For two days, beginning today, oil industry experts and practitioners at home and abroad would examine issues affecting the sector, especially energy financing.

This would be the highlight of the 4th edition of the Abuja Petroleum Roundtable holding at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

It is anchored by the Port Harcourt-based emerging energy summit experts, Ibeji Associates, led by Ikechi Ibeji. This year’s roundtable has the theme, ‘New Investment Windows and Opportunities in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Value Chains’ and it will be moderated and chaired by former presidential adviser to the president on petroleum matters, Emmanuel Egbogah.

The strategic session would look at advances made in energy finance in Nigeria from the 1990s when every kobo was borrowed from the international financial markets, a forward on the summit stated.

According to the organisers, many challenges remain notably very high interest rates and matching short-term deposits to long-term financing requirements.

“To tackle some of these challenges, the law, which established the Nigerian Content programme, introduced the Nigerian Content Fund to essentially share the risk with the banks and subsidise the interest rates for the borrower”.

Ernest Nwapa, the chief executive of the Nigerian Content Development Board (NCDB), would be on hand to lead the discussion on the near $400 million that may have so far accumulated to the board.

Ikechi said the strategic session would create the environment for robust debate among bankers, financial advisers, investors, indigenous exploration and production (E&P) operators, indigenous contractors, regulators from the NCDB, National Assembly members, and policy makers on the efficacy of this model and its implementation paradigms going forward. The question would be if indeed the Nigerian Content Fund has worked or failed.

The panel would identify lessons learned so far and areas of possible modifications.