Engr. Tony Attah, Managing Director of Renaissance Africa Energy Limited, on Friday said that renewable energy does not pose a threat to oil and gas as they will complement each other and give people choices.
According to him, renewable energy will always be part of the energy mix but cannot replace fossil fuels.
“I am also a fan of renewable energy, every household should have a solar panel and batteries but fossils will always be the dominant source of energy to power industries,” Attah said.
Attah expressed the views while speaking at the second Nigerian Content Academy virtual forum on the oil and gas sector.
The topic was “Finding Funds for Effective and Efficient Local Content Initiatives – Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) Perspectives.”
Attah noted that the acquisition of the onshore and shallow water assets hitherto operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) by Rennaissance, a consortium of five indigenous firms, was transformational.
He said that raising the 2.4 billion dollars for the acquisition deal within the country without resorting to offshore lenders was a herculean task that required a creative approach.
He regretted that the African energy sector was financed by external sources and was not skewed to develop the African continent adding that the feat achieved by Renaissance should inspire more investors to fund the energy sector.
He said that the typical model deployed by the International Oil Companies (IOCs), which relied on exporting crude without domestic refining, robs Africa of the derivatives in the value chain.
He said that revenue streams from a barrel of crude purchased at 80 dollars comes to about 200 dollars.
Attah encouraged Nigerian entrepreneurs to lead the race to grow and develop the African energy sector by looking inwards for indigenous capital.
Attah applauded the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for instituting the Nigerian Content Intervention Intervention Fund (NCIF) and the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) to enhance the capacity of local companies to acquire assets.
He also noted that the establishment of African Energy Bank is a welcome development capable of unlocking the potentials of the African energy market and boosting Africa to Africa business transactions.
Speaking after the session, Dr Obinna Ezeobi, General Manager in charge of Corporate Communications at NCDMB restated the commitment of the Board to the overall development and improvement of capacity of Nigerians in the energy space.
Ezeobi commended Attah’s delivery on the crucial subject of finding funds for investment in the energy sector.
He noted that the Nigerian Content Lecture Series is part of the Board’s efforts to bridge the knowledge gap across its stakeholders spectrum.
