Nigeria, which is a fossil fuel-dependent country, must urgently develop a strategy to engage the shifting global focus away from oil by diversifying the economy.
A senior officer in the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Tengi George-Ikoli, who stated this at a stakeholders’ workshop on the energy sector in Abuja, added that Nigeria must take economic diversification more seriously.
She said, “Nigeria must develop its own medium to long-term strategy to mitigate the likely export and government revenue losses from a shrinking market base as these countries look to reduce oil reliance beyond 2030.”
The workshop, held by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), through its Natural Resource and Extractives Programme (NAREP) in partnership with NRGI, was to drive the level of discourse on oil dependency and Nigeria’s energy transition.
The acting Executive Director at CJID, Tobi Oluwatola, harped on capacity building for the media and other stakeholders so they can better enlighten the public.
He said: “It is time for civil society organisations (CSOs), journalists and policy experts to have this discussion, most especially as Nigeria plans to achieve net zero by 2060.”
The deputy director, Development Practice, CJID, Akintunde Babatunde, noted that as energy transition persists globally, Nigeria as a monolithic fossil fuel-dependent economy has to prepare for what the shift to cleaner energy sources means for its economy.
He said, “Data is pointing us to the fact that Nigeria will likely lose a majority of its foreign exchange earnings and revenues for both the federal and subnational governments.”