On Saturday, the 14th of October, Mustard Insights – a Nigerian data-tech start-up, geared to provide African data to players in FDI-focused industries – successfully organized a highly informative and engaging webinar themed “Understanding the Petroleum Value Chain in Nigeria: The Road Ahead.”
The event brought together a host of oil and gas experts, thought leaders, and stakeholders to share insights, discuss pressing issues, and explore opportunities within the Nigerian petroleum sector.
The webinar commenced with an illuminating keynote speech delivered by His Excellency Prof. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Former Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Nigeria, and former President of OPEC, APPO, and GECF. Prof. Kachikwu emphasized the importance of stable and predictable policies that take into account international dynamics to drive favorable investment in Nigeria.
“For countries like Nigeria to do well in such an environment, they must be able to develop stable, predictable policies that take cognizance of international dynamics and be able to drive favorable investment policies.”
The panel discussion which was moderated by Arise TV & Global Business Report host, Rotus Odiri, featured a diverse range of experts who shared their perspectives on the challenges and potential of the Nigerian petroleum industry.
Ronke Onadeko, Principle Consultant at DRNL Consult Ltd, highlighted the need for Nigeria to become a dominant player, stating, “The more money we make on crude oil, the more money we spend. Until we become a dominant player, we don’t get to make the rules.”
Engr. Olalere Odusote, Former Commissioner of Energy, Lagos State, emphasized the importance of refining internal procedures and laws to enhance competitiveness.
“We need to look at our own internal procedures and internal laws and our ability to enforce them and start thinking about how to refine our own resources and make ourselves more competitive.”
Dr. Tolu Awoyinfa, an Oil and Gas Finance Executive, additionally stressed the significance of telling Nigeria’s own stories and aligning policies with the country’s unique needs during the energy transition, stating, “We need to address energy transition from a nuanced perspective, we must drive our own narratives and align our policies with them.”
Mr. Eti-Iyene Akpan, Director at Basumoh Nigeria Ltd. highlighted Nigeria’s need for investing in infrastructure to tap into the renewable energy industry properly, stating,
“Nigeria still has a lot to do, Nigeria still needs a lot of infrastructure to put in place to tap into the renewable energy industry properly.”
The webinar not only offered a platform for enlightening discussions but also served as an introduction to Mustard Insights’ groundbreaking price comparison app, PriceWiz by the CEO of Mustard Insights, Lawretta Egba. Designed to provide users with unrivaled price intelligence, PriceWiz revolutionizes the way individuals track and compare prices across a wide range of commodities, with a specific focus on fuel prices in its initial version.
The unveiling of PriceWiz added an exciting dimension to the already dynamic webinar, sparking discussions on the impacts of price intelligence on purchasing behavior, market dynamics, and consumer empowerment. In the Nigerian petroleum industry, where complexities are abundant, the tool harnesses big data to provide perfect information in an industry that is soon expected to be fully led by market forces.
The CEO shared the vision behind the organization.
“Mustard Insights was born out of the idea that Africa needs to own its narrative. For it to do this, it needs to be able to create and extract value out of its data.”
She also emphasized the challenge of data availability in Africa, stating, “For an economy as promising as ours, having available data to make effective decisions is paramount.”
