President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Africa’s oil and gas producers to rise up to the challenge posed by global energy transition and climate change.
The President, who made the call at the meeting of African Petroleum Producers Oragnisation (APPO) meeting for CEOs of oil and gas companies of APPO members Wednesday in Abuja, also urged the continent’s policy makers to come up with initiatives to address the twin challenges.
so at the meeting were the Minister of Hydrocarbon of Equatorial Guinea and Niger Republic.
President Buhari, who was represented by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the continent is currently at the receiving end of the double devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
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 policy makers as well as the operators of the industry have crucial roles to play in achieving this.”
While noting that NOCs have critical role to play in ensuring the survival and development of the oil and gas industry in Africa, Sylva said the continent need to plan for it’s 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.
The President pointed out that securing it’s energy future does not mean ignoring the issue of COz emissions and concerns about climate change, which is fueling the calls for energy transition, insisting that energy transiton does not imply that Africa should abandon some of its energy sources.
“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 achive the sustainable development goal of providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all,” the President charged the CEOs
Companies that attended the meeting include SONAGOL,- Angola; SNH- Cameroun; SNPC-Congo Brazzaville; SONA HYDRO-DRC; and SONGAS-Equitorial Guinea. Others are GOC-Gabon; GNPC-Ghana; SONIDEP-NIGER; and NNPCL, the host of the meeting.
