Please share
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has advocated the need for the creation of energy bank in Africa.
He explained that the institution would help improve investments in the oil and gas sector in the continent,according to a statement from the ministry.
Sylva ,who gave the advice during the visit of the Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Hydrocarbon, Mr Gabriel Lima, in Abuja, reasoned that since western nations were scaling down funding for hydrocarbon exploration across the world due to the race for renewable energies, setting up an African Energy Bank would be the only alternative available to African countries to continue to explore the vast hydrocarbon resources in the continent.
He explained that his advocacy for the establishment of the energy bank was boosted by the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.
He added: “The PIA is a watershed moment for us in Nigeria. This is the time for us to get out of Nigeria to market this investment environment. We must not go out of Africa to attract investments. We must set up structures to fund our system. If we insist on the exploration of our oil and gas reserves when the world is cutting down on investments in the sector, we must set a financial institution, an African Energy Bank, to develop the oil and gas sector.
“If we go into more exploration in Africa, we will find more oil and gas, and must we leave it under the ground because the other countries are racing for renewable energy? We must find a way to explore it, and that’s why we need an energy bank along the line of the African Development Bank.”
He also emphasized the need for synergy among African nations, stressing that no country in the world would help Africa develop other than Africans themselves.
Please share