The Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari has lamented the low investment in Nigeria’s energy industry stating that the country received less than 3% of total investment inflow to Africa in the last ten years.
The GCEO stated this in a presentation at the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Public Wealth Management Conference, which was held in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, energy is critical to the country’s industrialisation across diverse sectors of the economy referencing agriculture.
He stated, “If you don’t have energy, you don’t have agriculture. You can do all the agriculture, but you can’t take it to the market, you may not be able to preserve it, you can’t even export it. So, all those indices are connected to the ability to create energy”
Furthermore, he highlighted the nation’s energy gap, marked by around 70% of its population lacking clean cooking fuels and over 50% without access to electricity. This situation points to a pressing need for improved energy infrastructure to address the widespread deficiency.
Speaking on The key obstacles to achieving energy security include limited investment due to business environment uncertainties and the impact of multiple taxation. He stated that in the last decade, Nigeria received less than 3% of Africa’s total energy sector investments, highlighting its challenges in attracting essential energy development funds.
What you should know
Nigeria has struggled to utilise its enormous energy potential being the highest oil producer in Africa and holding one of the world’s largest gas reserves at around 208 trillion cubic feet of gas accounting for 33% of Africa’s total gas reserves. In 2023, the country flared about 275 MMcfd which is capable of providing 1.125 GW of power for the country
- In 2021, the Petroleum Industry Act was passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Buhari after over a decade in the pipeline. The new act sought to provide clarity to operators and potential investors on the regulatory environment of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
- In recent times, international oil companies have divested out of onshore fields, leading to more local operators. Nonetheless, offshore fields still attract global investors.
- Significant projects are in progress to develop the country’s gas resources. Notable ones are the Nigeria-Morocco and Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipelines, expected to raise gas production to about 2 Bcfd by 2030.