Sterling Bank, Renaissance Partner to Finance Indigenous Oil Contractors

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigerian lender, Sterling Bank Limited, has partnered with Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited to expand access to financing for indigenous oil and gas contractors, with a combined funding pool of $4.1 billion and N435 billion available under the renewed Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme.

The partnership was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding, bringing Sterling Bank into the financing programme, which brings together 13 financial institutions to provide funding for eligible contractors executing projects for Renaissance, operator of the former Shell Petroleum Development Company joint venture assets.

The scheme is designed to address funding constraints faced by indigenous service providers, particularly access to affordable working capital for equipment, materials, personnel and other contract execution costs.

Under the arrangement, participating financial institutions will provide structured financing to eligible contractors against confirmed contracts awarded by Renaissance, subject to credit assessment and approval.

Speaking on the partnership, Mr Dele Faseemo, Group Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking at Sterling Bank, said the initiative would help local businesses execute projects, expand operations and participate more actively in Nigeria’s energy value chain.

“At Sterling Bank, we believe financing should enable capable businesses to deliver, grow and compete. Our participation in the Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme reflects that conviction.

“By providing structured funding to qualified contractors, we are supporting the businesses that keep the energy value chain moving, strengthening Nigerian content participation and contributing to the broader objective of increasing the country’s productive capacity,” Mr Faseemo said.

On his part, Renaissance’s chief executive, Mr Tony Attah, said the scheme would support the company’s growth plans by improving contractors’ access to funding.

“What we’ve been able to achieve as Renaissance is to go into that partnership with these incredible 13 banks who have come up to support this vendor scheme with over $4 billion and over N435 billion funds available for the vendors to be able to support us in our growth agenda,” Mr Attah said.

He added that the financing arrangement would offer contractors more favourable borrowing terms than they might obtain independently.

“The interest rate that the banks are offering to the contractors is very competitive, and it is certainly better than the vendors going out to the respective banks on their own,” he said.

The Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme builds on a contractor financing programme established in 2010 to support indigenous service providers executing projects across the oil and gas value chain.

Its latest expansion comes as Renaissance pursues a target of producing one million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030, an ambition expected to require sustained investment in production assets and supporting services.

The company relies on engineering firms, equipment suppliers, logistics providers, technical specialists and other indigenous businesses to support its operations.

Sterling Bank said the partnership aligns with its commitment to financing productive economic activity, developing indigenous enterprises and strengthening local capacity across critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.