Nigeria Gets 60% Of AfreximBank’s $30bn Investment In Oil and Gas In Africa

Nigeria has received 60% of the African Export and Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) N30 billion investment in Africa’s oil and gas sector.

With a lot of international banks withholding funding from the oil and gas sector, , the President of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, who was represented by an Executive Vice President of the bank, Mr. Haytham El Maayergi, said investment in the industry had become severely limited, with the corresponding impact on exploration and production.

“Afreximbank has intervened in a big way, quickly becoming the largest financier of oil and gas deals on the continent. The support provided to the sector by the bank is in excess of $30 billion. Nigeria has been one of the largest beneficiaries accounting for almost 60 percent of the total funding of the sector.

“And it’s important to point that AfreximBank has been able to make those modest contribution in the oil and gas sector because the bank is predominantly African in ownership and in control,” he stated.

In his remarks, Oramah pointed out that Africa’s aspiration in the area of energy security and energy transition will remain aspirations, unless it has access to adequate funding resources that it controls.

Also, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, stated that Nigeria will not be cajoled into jettisoning the production of fossil fuels, insisting that the country will handle the energy transition programme on its own terms.

The minister assured that   Nigeria was not against transition but would transit in a more environmentally friendly and sustainable way. “You can never find any better climate for oil businesses than Nigeria”, he noted.

Lokpobiri reiterated the resolve of the government to  provide support and create the enabling environment for oil companies and businesses to thrive.

In his brief remarks, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo restated the adoption of gas by the federal government as its transition fuel.

Besides, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) disclosed that it had ramped up its LPG production to 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum as of 2023 while it supplied 493,000 tons to the market in the same year.

The General Manager, Finance, NLNG, Mrs Fatima Adanan, announced the company’s LPG production rise while speaking during a panel at the NIES summit.

“Now, when we started, we were producing 70,000 metric tons. Today, we’re producing upwards of 1.5 million metric tons of LPG and this LPG and our sole designated distribution point is Nigeria. So, part of our vision as Nigeria LNG is to make sure that we make Nigeria a better place.

“So, 1.5 million tonnes is our own production for 2023. So, this number is from NLNG. Nigeria requires a lot more. So, importation will be ongoing. But as NLNG also grows, we will also be able to provide more,” Adanan said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and the Organisation of the Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) have pledged to work closely together to achieve the nation’s aspirations to attract investments and grow production.

The two organisations came to this accord when the Secretary General of OPEC, Haitham al-Ghais, paid a courtesy visit to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, at the NNPC Towers on Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, al-Ghais stated that OPEC was completely aligned with NNPC Ltd.’s vision as captured in its payoff line: “Energy for Today, Energy for Tomorrow” because of its inclusive view of energy as opposed to the view being pushed in some quarters that some sources of energy were bad.

He disclosed that in spite of the pushback on oil and gas, the world would require about $14 trillion investments from now till 2035 to be able to meet global demand, and urged NNPC to do everything to tap into that opportunity to raise its production to continue to be a reliable source of energy to the world.

“We will continue to ensure that the market is stable. The global market has to be stable in order for Nigeria to be able to attract investors. If there’s volatility, if there’s no stability in the market, it will only create havoc for everybody, whether it’s a producer or consumer country.

“ So, we will continue to do that in OPEC. We count on Nigeria’s support”, the OPEC helmsman said.

In his remarks, Kyari said NNPC was working very hard to recover lost production and provide the right fiscal environment to attract investments.

He expressed appreciation to OPEC for its support to Nigeria, adding that NNPC Ltd will continue to support the organization in whatever way it could.

Other speakers on the third day of the programme on Wednesday were: The Chairman, IPPG, Mr. Abdurazaq Isa, the Chairman, Oil Producers Trade  Section (OPTS) and Chairman, Shell,  Mr. Osagie Okunbor and Group Managing Director, Gambia National Petroleum Commission, Mr. Baboucarr Njie.

Others included: General Manager, Strategy and Investments, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Kwame Baah-Nuakoh; Chief Geoscientist, National Petroleum Corporation of Nambia, Mr. Anthony  Chatu, among many others.

Emmanuel Addeh and Peter Uzoho

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