The Chairman of the meeting of CEOs of APPO National Oil Companies (NOCs) and Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd has called on African Petroleum Producing Countries to move from making beautiful PowerPoint presentations to taking concrete actions that will take the continent out of energy poverty.
He made the call at the 2nd meeting of CEOs of the NOCs in Abuja, Nigeria recently… Giving more details, the meeting Chairman stressed that Africa must opt for a synergy of actions to meet the challenges posed by the energy transition to its oil and gas industry. He urged the meeting to strengthen and integrate such regional initiatives as the trans-Saharan pipeline project, the Central Africa pipeline project (CAPS) and the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) towards meeting the challenges.
He further emphasized on the need to create a financial institution as soon as possible to finance energy, oil and gas projects.
In an opening remark before the meeting, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Chief Timipre Sylva who was accompanied by his counterparts from Equatorial Guinea and Niger, recalled that the decision to revive and empower the CEOs of the NOCs of the APPO Member Countries(MCs) was taken by APPO’s Ministerial Council during the major reform and restructuring. from APPA to APPO. This, he explained, was in recognition of the essential role that the NOCs of the APPO MCs would play in ensuring the survival and development of the oil and gas industry in Africa in the era of energy transition.
Key considerations at the Meeting include:
Contributions from sovereign funds for the financing of the oil and gas industry through the African Energy Transition Bank;
Support for regional integrated infrastructure initiatives such as the extension of the GAO in the West African region to Morocco, the trans-Saharan pipeline projects and the Central African Pipeline System (CAPS)
The rapid establishment of Pan-African oil and gas services companies in the various fields of industry coordinated by the APPO Secretariat.