General
Sub-Saharan Africa Can’t Abandon Fossil Fuel—Agunbiade
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
There has been a huge campaign in Western societies against the use of fossil fuel because of the harm it does to the earth, with the use of renewable energy being pushed as an alternative.
To get many nations to move in this direction, the Paris Agreement was signed in 2016 to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future.
But a renowned Nigerian engineer, investor and Director for Houston-based National Oilwell Varco, Dr Babajide Agunbiade, has advised sub-Saharan Africa to still stick to the oil and gas to power its economy.
In an interview, he explained that oil remains the only commodity that can satisfy the demands of an increasing population and increase the earnings of the governments.
He said in the advanced economies, it is true that the use of fossil fuel is declining because of the use of renewable energy, but stressed that in the third world countries, oil still remains their dependable source of energy.
The energy guru with over 20 years’ experience in the oil industry and one of the world’s leading offshore production experts, noted that as a result of the enormous deposits of oil and gas, operators and service companies are doing what they can to optimise production cost and continue producing the commodity.
“In Africa, [oil] is still the only commodity that can satisfy the demands of an increasing population, an expanding middle class, and in some cases, the main source of governments’ earnings. We still have a lot of oil,” he asserted.
“As stated, a lot of these African countries do depend substantially on oil revenue for survival. Oil still plays a large role in these sub-Saharan countries’ economies, accounting for up to 40 per cent of GDP and 80 per cent to 90 per cent of governments’ earnings,” Dr Agunbiade said.
The Director of National Oilwell Varco, the largest oilfield equipment manufacturing company in the world, said 90 per cent of the earnings of the government of Nigeria come from oil and the same as Angola, Gabon, and the rest of oil-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
With these figures, he was convinced that the shift to renewable energy at the expense of oil and gas in sub-Saharan Africa has not been the focus for now, and this must change.
“There is no push for anything different. They are still aggressively trying to source foreign exchange, which for the most part, they can only do that through oil,” he opined.
According to him, wind energy, electric cars, and a lot of other renewable energy options and integrated gasification in the combined cycle, IGCC from coal have to come into play.
General
NIWA to Collaborate With Coastal States to Secure Waterways
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has commenced moves to collaborate with coastal states across the country to increase the safety of Nigerians using the waterways to commute.
According to the waterways regulator, this is part of bids to enhance safety on the nation’s waterways.
This was disclosed by Mr Bola Oyebamiji, the Managing Director of NIWA while speaking at a one-day consultative forum on safety and insecurities on inland waterways, organiwed by the Nigeria Transportation Commissioners’ Forum in Ilorin, Kwara State on Thursday.
He emphasised the critical role that safety and security play in fostering a thriving water transportation system.
The conference, themed Prevalent Safety, Security Hazards and Practices in Inland Waterways: Passenger Transport Safety in Ilorin, Kwara State, sought to address the pressing issues facing the inland waterways sector.
Mr Oyebamiji acknowledged the ongoing efforts by NIWA to improve safety, such as the recent unveiling of the transportation code for public use, and the inauguration of several operational assets including survey boats, gunboats, water ambulances, and a passenger ferry.
He also noted that safety campaigns have been launched across all operational bases, targeting local communities in their native languages.
The NIWA boss highlighted the support from the National Assembly, including the ongoing discussions on establishing coastal guards and the attention safety and security on inland waterways have received from the House Committee on Inland Waterways.
He appealed to the Commissioners for Transportation across relevant states to collaborate with NIWA in areas such as training, safety campaigns, infrastructure development, and financial empowerment.
He also stressed that while the challenges are significant, they are surmountable through collective action, adding that the efforts must be complemented.
The NIWA MD expressed optimism for actionable and implementable outcomes from the forum, which he believes will contribute significantly to ensuring safer and more secure inland waterways in the country.
General
Seedstars Africa Ventures Raises $42m in First Close
By Adedapo Adesanya
Seedstars Africa Ventures I, a venture capital fund making early-stage investments in highly scalable start-ups in Africa, has achieved a first close of $42 million
The raise was led by the African Development Bank and EIB Global with the support of the European Union, under the ACP Trust Fund – EU Compartment and Boost Africa among other global investors.
The fund, with offices in Nairobi, Dakar and Paris, has further secured $50 million in commitments towards an $80 million fundraising target.
The milestone was announced at the 2024 Africa Investment Forum Market Days currently underway in Rabat, Morocco.
The fund has already deployed over $10 million to five pioneering African startups in the climate, food systems, energy access, internet connectivity, financial inclusion, and payments infrastructure sectors.
These are Beacon Power Services (Nigeria), Poa! Internet (Kenya), Xeno (Uganda), Bizao (Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, and France): and Shamba Pride (Kenya).
According to a statement, it was disclosed that these businesses serve over 60 million people, including by connecting 60,000 households to the internet, supporting 50,000 farmers, and empowering 30,000 individuals with financial inclusion services across eight African countries.
“The portfolio is also fully 2X compliant, empowering women in startups and ecosystems,” the statement added.
Both the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank are founding partners of the Africa Investment Forum, a platform that advances transformative African projects toward financial close.
Seedstars Africa Ventures I is addressing gaps in early-stage financing across Africa through investments of up to $2 million in seed and series A rounds, with significant follow-on capacity of up to $5 million, thereby bridging available pools of capital.
By leading successive investment rounds, the fund will catalyse co-investment while offering operational support to start-ups.
The Fund was founded by Ms Maxime Bouan, Mr Tamim El Zein and Mr Bruce Nsereko Lule who have over 45 years of experience investing and working across the continent.
Seedstars Africa Ventures is a member of LBO France Group, which played a pivotal role in seeding this initiative as part of their multi-asset class African strategy, alongside other initiatives.
Speaking on this, Mr Robert Daussun, and Ms Stéphanie Casciola, Chairman and CEO respectively of LBO France said “We are delighted by Seedstars Africa Ventures’ latest milestone, and proud to have been the initial supporter of the team. The portfolio the team has built with our support is innovative and transformative, already providing significant impact and value to the continent. LBO France appreciates the opportunity SAV provides for us and our partners to be part of Africa’s growth story.”
“The African Development Bank views Seedstars Africa Ventures as a strategic opportunity to provide innovative support to Africa’s venture capital industry. It serves as a conduit to improve access to finance for youth and women while also enhancing the availability of risk capital in Francophone Africa.
“This is an area that has traditionally faced limited access to risk capital,” said Mr Ahmed Attout, African Development Bank Group Director for Financial Sector Development.
“We welcome the investment of the African Development Bank, our Boost Africa partners, in the Seedstars Africa Ventures fund,” said EIB Vice-President, Mr Ambroise Fayolle. “Accelerating digitalisation is a priority for the EIB, and we are committed to supporting African businesses as they drive innovation and prosperity on the continent.”
General
Nigeria Not Planning to Stop Fossil Fuels Soon—Oil Minister
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria has no plans to stop fossil fuels anytime soon, despite increasing calls for energy transition because the country intends to harness its oil reserves and increase oil output to fill the gap in Africa.
This submission was made by the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, at the 13th Practical Nigerian Content Forum organized by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, this week.
Mr Lokpobiri explained that no country in the world will stop the production of fossil fuels when there are still markets for it, noting that Nigeria has a lot of reserves and has not utilised enough to consider stopping the use of fossil fuels, despite several calls from many quarters.
Speaking on the theme Deepening the Next Frontier for Nigerian Content Implementation, the Minister observed that even Western countries like the United Kingdom were still giving licenses for exploration.
“All these clamour about energy transition that says we should stop production of fossil fuel, we will never stop the production of fossil fuel in Nigeria, no country in the world will stop it.
“In 2023, UK which contributed 4.8 per cent of global emissions, higher than the entire OPEC countries put together, entire African continent put together and still gave over 100 licenses to new companies for new exploration.
”America is the highest producer of fossil fuel, so why should we stop, those who are telling us to stop are themselves not stopping, so we should know that is about politics.
“Let me also use the opportunity to tell the industry players that with the emergence of Donald Trump as U.S. President, the price of oil maybe battered.
”What I want us to do is to increase our own production, Africa already has enough market. We can produce enough fuel to supply the West African region and the entire Africa, but our biggest challenge is funding,” he said.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, urged local businesses in the country to invest in Compressed Natural Gas (GNG) as gas will be a mainstay of the economy after the energy transition.
“Gas will be the mainstay of Nigeria’s energy shift, and we’re giving local businesses a chance to engage in gas distribution, processing and power generation.
”The probable replacement for PMS has been determined to be natural gas in the form of CNG.
“Let me reiterate this administration’s unwavering commitment to advancing local content as a cornerstone of our energy strategy, together, we have the opportunity to build an energy industry that empowers Nigerians, strengthens our economy and contributes to the sustainable future,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr Felix Ogbe said the board has achieved 56 per cent in Nigerian Content level in 2024 compare to 26 per cent in 2016.
He stated that some of the achievements of the board include; Commissioning of Amal Technologies in Idu, Abuja; and the Kwale Gas Gathering facility in Delta, approval of 312 Nigerian Content Plans, and issuance of 402 Nigerian Content Compliance Certificates (NCCCs) bythe board amongst others.
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