FG charges NOC CEOs to rescue 600m Africans from energy poverty

Nigeria yesterday charged Africa’s National Oil Companies’ Chief Executive Officers to rescue 600 million Africans facing energy poverty and another 900 million people on the continent with access to clean cooking fuel.
 
The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva who gave the charge at a meeting of CEOs of Africa Petroleum Producers Organisation, APPO, member countries, said it was unacceptable for such a large number of Africans facing energy challenges.
 
Chief Sylva observed that the continent was at the receiving end of the negative impact of the COVID 19 pandemic and catastrophic impact of climate change.
 
“We urgently need to plan for our energy future. Our goal should be energy sufficiency in order to ensure energy security, end the ravaging energy poverty in the continent and drive the continent’s overdue economic breakthrough.
 
“It is unacceptable in this modern age that 600 million people in Africa have no access to electricity, and 900 million have no access to clean cooking fuel. Our imminent mission should be to rescue this vast number of our people from this grip of unjustifiable abject energy poverty.
 
“We should harness all our abundant and varied energy resources, including fossil fuels and renewable resources, in order to assure not only availability and accessibility, but also affordability and sustainability, to meet our increasing energy demand”.
 
He noted that the push to end energy poverty in Africa “does not imply ignoring the issue of CO2 emissions and concerns about climate change, which is fueling the calls for energy transition. We should however clarify that energy transition does not imply that some energy sources should be abandoned.
 
“Energy transition is all about providing clean energy, and not about discriminating between energy sources.
 
“All available energy sources will be required to end the high level of energy poverty in Africa and achieve the sustainable development goal of providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”, he added.