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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has stated that Africa does not need loans but rather strategic partnerships and investments to address energy poverty and drive economic growth on the continent.
Lokpobiri made this statement on Tuesday in Abuja, at the 8th edition of the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2025), themed “Bridging Continents: Connecting Investors Worldwide with Africa’s Energy Potential.”
The minister said that strategic policies by President Bola Tinubu’s administration had proven Nigeria’s readiness and commitment to business.
“In January at Davos, I was in a panel with eight other ministers of different parts of the world, and one of the ministers said that Europe has about 300 billion euros available for loans to Africa.
“I suggested to them that we don’t need loans; rather, we need investments; we need partnerships. Invest and then make your returns instead of giving us loans.
“I can assure you that the world is ready to invest in Africa; the world has recognised that Africa has enormous resources, but these resources have no value unless we are able to bring them to the market,” Lokpobiri said.
The minister said that the current administration had changed the entire energy landscape in Nigeria, making the country an investment destination for new investors and those who had earlier mulled plans of divestment.
According to him, Nigeria has shown readiness for business, and that is why four major divestments that were pending before have been completed.
He said Nigeria had developed or grown enormous local capacity, enabling indigenous companies to acquire assets with the capacity to run these companies profitably.
“Nigeria has nothing to lose.
“No International Oil Company (IOC) is leaving Nigeria; all the IOCs cannot find a better location than Nigeria for business. They told me that Nigeria is still the best destination, and they are firm in their commitment to say they are not leaving Nigeria.
“At the worst, they are leaving for deep offshore, which is beyond the capacity of Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) members,” he said.
The minister disclosed that Nigeria would secure some investments in the next few months, adding that 20 billion dollars in investments were on the way soon.
He called on Africans to unite in order to collectively provide solutions to the energy poverty problems bedevilling the continent.
“We have to collectively work together to ensure that we bridge the gap that exists in technology and in finance, among others,” the minister said.
In a similar vein, Secretary-General, African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation, Dr Omar Ibrahim, decried overdependence on foreign loans in Africa.
Ibrahim said it was the quest by Africa to find solutions within and stop overdependence on foreign finance that informed APPO’s decision to partner with Afrexim Bank to establish the African Energy Bank (AEB), headquartered in Nigeria.
“We are not against foreign finance, foreign technology, and foreign markets, but to do our utmost best to address challenges by looking within first, then going out only when internal possibilities are exhausted.
“The only way we can do this is to collaborate and pull resources together and then we will have all it takes to surmount our challenges.
“Today Nigeria, through the NNPC Ltd. is the highest contributor to the African Energy Bank fund,’’ he said.
The APPO Secretary General decried the fact that 600 million Africans still lacked access to electricity, despite Africa exporting 75 per cent of the oil it produced and 45 per cent of its gas.
He said if Africa must change for the better, for its teeming youth population, there was a need to critically question the thoughts of its leaders, including academia, media, politicians, military and industries.
(NAN)
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