Sustainable, renewable energy fundamental to Africa’s future — Okadigbo | The Guardian Nigeria News

The Chairman, Board of Directors, NNPC Limited, Senator Margery Chuba-Okadigbo, has said that sustainable, renewable energy is fundamental to Africa’s future.

In her keynote address delivered at the FIN’s Trade & Investment Forum (Power for Africa) held in New York, United States, she said meeting African needs with sustainable sources of modern energy for consumption and production would be essential to social welfare and economic development.

Titled: Investing for Reliable, Affordable and Sustainable Power in Africa, Okadigbo while making reference to the UN, said by 2050, African continent will be the home of two billion people, and two in five of the world’s children will be born in Africa.

According to her, there is, however, the urgent need to balance two key challenges, accelerating the energy transition to tackle climate crisis; and ensuring energy security for the billions of people who rely on conventional energy for their basic human needs in line with UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7.

These challenges, she said, call for the implementation of practical solutions that would reduce the carbon intensity of hydrocarbons, while also accelerating the growth of low carbon energy sources.

She noted that President Muhammadu Buhari, at the COP26 announced Nigeria’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2060, which was followed by the unveiling of Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP), a multipronged strategy in which Gas plays a critical role as a transition fuel in Nigeria’s net-zero pathway.

She said, “Nigeria is the largest natural gas reserve holder on the African continent, with proven gas resources of 209.5 Tcf and a potential of up to 600 Tcf. In recognition of the strategic importance of gas to its ETP, the Federal Government has declared 2021 to 2030 as the Decade of Gas and aims to leverage on the huge gas reserves to become not just a major exporter but also a major gas-consuming nation.

“NNPC Limited holds the strategic advantage of being located in the continent’s largest economy. It is the largest single asset holder in the African Petroleum Industry with significant equity holdings in various high-value Upstream, Midstream and Downstream assets.

“The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and subsequent unveiling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited), has seen the new NNPC Limited up scaling its business models and operations to continuously meet new energy priorities that seek to minimise carbon footprint while paying attention to sustaining the energy security of our country, Nigeria, and the rest of the world.”

She noted that the PIA has also introduced fiscal and regulatory clarity that supports investment and growth, saying that NNPC Limited offers numerous investment opportunities that guarantee positive returns across the energy value chain.

“With a large population of over 200 million, a growing middle-class and a favourable investment climate, Nigeria’s Power Market offers numerous investment opportunities for investors interested in power investments through Independent Power Projects (IPPs) such as the Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Agura and Obite IPPs,” she added.

Okadigbo felt honoured to be the Speaker at the 2022 Trade and Investment Forum, which is aimed at supporting economic growth and development in Africa by increasing access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable power across the continent.