By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
SAIPEC 2021 – The Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Mr Nicolas Odinuwe, has said that Africa needs a collaborative ecosystem between the local industry stakeholders within the Sub-Saharan Africa region alongside the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Mr Odinuwe made this remarkable speech during his keynote address at the 5th edition of the Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) held as a hybrid event this year from 19 – 21 May 2021.
According to him, Sub-Saharan Africa has about 62.6 billion barrels of proven crude reserves with an estimated 221.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, which has positioned the region to be the last energy frontier and global hub.
“A key enabler is to create a collaborative ecosystem between the local industry stakeholders alongside the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which has come into effect.
“Government across Africa especially the African producers should provide necessary incentives to attract private sector investments across the entire value chain.”
This, according to him, will trigger a massive economic revolution, human capital development and deepen local content across Sub-Saharan Africa.
He emphasized that the current situation Africa finds itself is due to the importation of refined crude products, and, with this development, it cannot generate the desired impact on the economy and provide huge opportunities for investment.
“PETAN is an association of leading Nigeria’s indigenous technical service providers in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sector of the oil industry.
“The association is the largest and leading advocacy group representing oil and gas service companies.
“Our members are from the entire value chain of the industry and have been delivering quality services to the Nigerian oil and gas industry for over 30 years.
“Part of our position as PETAN following the COVID-19 pandemic is to help others embrace local content, lower supply chain cost, boost local skills, technology development, human capital development and eliminate capital flight from the continent.
“This is based on our over 60 years of oil and gas and over 10 years of robust local content practices.
“We would like to appeal to the government, representatives, policymakers, legislatures, industry stakeholders and players, to incorporate the contents of this conference into their plans and policies for a better operating environment that will have the desired and positive effects on our respective economies,” he added.