The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has reiterated Nigeria’s position of advocating for an energy transition programme that is beneficial to the country and continent as a whole.
Sylva said Nigeria will remain at the vanguard of the crusade for a multifaceted energy transition timetable that will attract more investments for Africa while taking cognisance of the current global energy transition in the direction of renewable energy.
This declaration is coming on the heels of a collective decision by African petroleum and energy ministers to present a common voice at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) scheduled for Egypt in November, and for Africa to be allowed to continue to exploit its hydrocarbon deposits for the development of the continent.
“Nigeria will continue to drive the direction of the narrative for the African energy transition programme. We have stood out to say no to a single track energy transition programme and had and will continue to support a transition agenda that will promote gas and renewed investments in the hydrocarbon sector for Africa,” Sylva said in a recent statement.
Sylva and Egyptian Energy Minister Terek el Molla have been the main voices in articulating a multi-track approach to the energy transition programme for Africa.
Both leaders are of the view that for the energy transition programme to be meaningful, Africa must be factored into the global energy transition programme in such a way that takes into account African situations.
Sylva said Nigeria would continue to advocate for gas as a transition fuel for Africa. “We have said that we cannot move at the same pace with the rest of the world because we contribute less than 2% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. We are not the problem and we cannot be made to pay for the sins we did not commit,” said Sylva.
The Minister added that for anyone to say “we (Africans) should abandon our abundant hydrocarbon deposits for the uncertainties of renewable energy is most unfair. As we speak today, we still have people without clean cooking fuels. In Africa we have over 600 million people without basic energy, so how do we meet their energy base load? We can only achieve this through gas. It’s only through a multi-prong approach that we can achieve this. It is obvious that we cannot move at the same pace with the rest of the world as far as the energy transition programme is concerned”.
Sylva and El Molla recently led other African ministers in a meeting where they resolved to speak and present a common front for Africa in the global energy transition agenda.
“We have huge hydrocarbon deposits in the continent and must we abandon it because some people have said we should? Some African countries like Ghana, Angola and others are just coming to the table and should they just abandon what they have because some countries are saying we should develop renewable energy? That will be an unfair decision,” Sylva said.
“We are not saying we won’t be part of the transition train for renewable energy but what we are saying as Africans is that we should be allowed to develop our natural resources and enjoy the God-given resources. [I] am happy that the world is beginning to listen to Africa and we are happy about that and we intend to build on that momentum at COP27, in Egypt by coming out with a common position,” he said.
Source: ESI Africa
