As countries end oil funding, Nigeria deepens energy transition

By Linda Ifeachor & Mercy James

As developed countries plan to cut funding for oil and gas, Nigeria, a fossil fuel-dependent country, may be affected as it weighs actions for the energy transition plan.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, stated this on Thursday at the National Dialogue on Energy Transition in Abuja which was convened by NEITI, the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI) and BudgIT.

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Orji said, “The global energy transition agenda is already reshaping the oil and gas landscape. Just recently, during the last United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, 26 countries and some public finance institutions announced their commitment to ending finance for overseas fossil fuel energy projects by the end of year 2022.

“Being an oil and gas dependent country, Nigeria is highly vulnerable and exposed to the risks and challenges of energy transition. Nigeria must not allow to be rushed into hasty energy transition decisions without a thorough analysis of our comparative advantage.” 

He said NEITI was integrating transparency and accountability mechanisms in Nigeria’s energy transition, especially in the area of energy sustainability.

The West Africa Regional Manager of NRGI, Nafi Chinery, said about 660 million Africans might be without electricity up till 2030, with 910m people not having access to clean cooking systems.

She noted that Nigeria was crucial in driving energy transition as it had $450bn Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as of 2021.

She said, “Nigeria’s emphasis on gas as a transition fuel aligns with the thinking of most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and the African Union Commission in the run up to COP27.”

The Chief Finance Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mohammed Ajia, harped on the importance of transparency in the energy transition process committing to NNPC’s efforts to be transparent in their partnership with NEITI.