Sylva wants African petroleum producers to adopt new approaches to secure energy future

Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources on Wednesday said Africa needs a completely new approach to handle the new challenges posed to the oil and gas industry by the global energy transition to secure the energy future of the continent

The minister said this at the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) meeting organized for CEOs of oil and gas companies of APPO members hosted by the new Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

He said, The new challenges posed to the African oil and gas industry by the global energy transition will require a completely new approach to handle; an approach that is both inclusive and pragmatic. Both the policymakers and the operators of
the industry have crucial roles to play in achieving this.”

“We urgently need to plan for our energy future. Our goal should be energy sufficiency in order to ensure energy security, end the ravaging energy poverty in the continent and drive the continent’s overdue economic breakthrough,” he added.

The Minister urged petroleum producers to share practical challenges they face today and are likely to face in years to come, which he noted should constitute major inputs into the policy-making process of the political leadership.

Sylva lamented that Africa is currently at the receiving end of the double devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. “It is unacceptable in this modern age that 600 million people in Africa have no access to electricity, and 900 million have no access to clean cooking fuel. Our imminent mission should be to rescue this vast number of our people from this grip of unjustifiable abject energy poverty,” he stressed.

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“We should harness all our abundant and varied energy resources, including fossil fuels and renewable resources, in order to assure, not only availability and accessibility but also affordability and sustainability, to meet our increasing energy demand,” Sylva added.

“You should use this opportunity to deliberate on how we can harness our financial resources and accelerate technology development to face the global energy transition onslaught. We need to develop cross-border infrastructure and expand the regional energy market to guarantee long-term energy security.

“I have no doubt that the future of Africa’s oil and gas industry is still bright, despite the global energy transition uptake. You are
central to making this a reality. Don’t fail us.”

The minister further noted that the need to secure the energy future would also factor in the concerns about climate change, which is fuelling the calls for energy transition. He, however, pointed out that energy transition is all about providing clean energy, and not about discriminating between energy sources.

“All available energy sources will be required to end the high level of energy poverty in Africa and achieve the sustainable development goal of providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all,” he said.

Companies that attended the meeting were Angola—SONAGOL, Cameroun—SNH, Congo Brazzaville—SNPC, DRC—SONA HYDRO, Equitorial Guinea—SONGAS, Gabon—GOCÀAAAQ, Ghana—GNPC, and Niger—SONIDEP.