MELE KYARI CALLS FOR DIFFERENTIATED ENERGY TRANSITION FOR AFRICA 20-03-24
By Sadiq Aminu As global calls for transition to cleaner energy fuels continue to grow, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Ltd., Mr. Mele Kyari, has advocated for a differentiated approach to attaining energy transition for the African continent.
Kyari, who also said the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) Project will be taken in December 2024, made the call while speaking during a Leadership Dialogue Session at the ongoing CERAWeek Conference in Houston, United States, on Tuesday.
According to the GCEO, energy transition is a very difficult subject for countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa because geographically, the situations are different as a number of the countries are dealing with energy availability, not transition, and energy availability is closely linked to energy security.
“The world has seen all the challenges thrown up recently by geopolitical events. It is clear that before the energy transition, countries must first attain security of energy supply in their countries. You cannot talk about energy security when it is not even available. In most of sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of the population doesn’t have access to clean cooking fuels. Therefore, you must fill the supply gap first,” the GCEO stated.
He said that although people talk about using the renewables to close the energy transition gap, the money for the renewables too must be found.
He said today, NNPC Ltd.’s focus is to build its capacity to deliver gas to the domestic market and beyond and as a gas-endowed country, Nigeria must utilise its abundant gas resources to provide the alternative fuel that it needs.
“We understand the arguments towards attaining energy transition, but the cheapest way to achieve that is through gas. We see clear opportunities that gas creates. Today we are building a number of trunklines and other gas infrastructure that will supply gas to a number of gas networks,” Kyari noted.