The clean energy transition has been a trendy topic from Lagos to Los Angeles, Davos to Darussalam, and Abu-Dhabi down to Aukland. Industry captains and leading state actors champion campaigns and roll out strategic plans to accelerate the clean energy transition. Today, this is not breaking news: leading multinational oil and gas companies have expanded their portfolios to accommodate non-fossil fuels and enable the clean energy transition. For instance, in Paris, on May 28, 2021, Total switched to TotalEnergies. While giving out why Total changed its name to TotalEnergies, the Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, said, our ambition is to be a world-class player in the energy transition [1].
In Nigeria, in line with the Federal Government’s ‘decade of gas’ initiative, a global leading energy company, Shell, in November 2021, unveiled Shell Energy Nigeria with the sole aim to increase natural gas marketing and sales to meet up with ever-growing energy demands and, of course, accelerate the energy transition in the country and world at large [2]. An article by McKinsey, “The big choices for oil and gas in navigating the energy transition,” provided an insight into how companies are responding to the low-carbon emission transition [3].
Without much rhetoric, one can deduce how the big players in the energy industry are committed to reducing carbon emissions and accelerating the energy transition. This is in line with the UN Paris Agreement 2016, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. To fulfill this, all global economy functions must be committed and will be required to reduce emissions in the next ten years (10) years coming.
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While the rest of the world’s continents are rolling out plans to meet up the UN Paris Agreement, the story of energy transition in Africa wears a different systemic symbol. This is because of the continent’s long-term quest to address energy poverty. Stakeholders and business heads are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. It is a confusing story for Africa because people don’t know where they are transiting to, all courtesy of ravaging poverty, insecurity, and energy crisis. For Africa, energy transition is a story on papers, while the reality of the situation is near unattainable.
The SPE Lagos Technical Symposium, on the other hand, provided an intellectual discourse to bring together energy professionals and stakeholders to discuss energy transition. In Africa, Nigeria is known for notorious gas flaring. Nigeria joins nine other countries that account for 75% of the global gas flaring, as stated by the World Bank during the Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report 2022 published on the bank’s website [4]. Thankfully, the stakeholders are taking impressive actions to address that to save the planet from the dangers of climate injustice.
The symposium, graced by seasoned oil and gas professionals, was held on the 18th and 19th May 2022 in hybrid formation. Based on over two (2) hours long panel discussions of Africa’s energy transition, here are the five takeaways from the panelists:
1. Hon. N.J. Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber
Mr. Ayuk, a strong advocate for African entrepreneurship and the indigenous energy sector, spoke passionately about Africa’s possible ways to the energy transition. From the way he started the conversation, you would be amazed by his depth of knowledge and experience. He said: You cannot decarbonize something that is not even carbonized. Mr. Ayuk centered his argument on the need for strong financial institutions and funding within to drive changes in the African energy sector. In his closing remarks, he added that stakeholders should look inwards and invest in gas because it is the future. He also called for a change of policies and more gas to power projects that will create jobs and address climate injustice in the African region. Africa should be on the supply side of the global economy not otherwise, he noted.
2. Victor Bandele, Deputy Manager, Deep Water Assets, TotalEnergies, Nigeria
Mr. Victor, an industry leader, intelligently talked about challenges in the policy framework in Nigeria and how oil and gas wells are being mismanaged. Riding on that point, he added that, in the early days of oil and gas exploration, most gas wells were left untapped by only focusing on oil-major wells. This act of mismanagement is hunting the energy sector in some countries in Africa. He said we need to deliberate on what we want to do. Africa should champion big projects that will attract investors. The seasoned professional further highlighted the need to expand energy access in Africa via exploring gas wells and solidifying transformational agendas by the stakeholders in what he termed a balanced approach. To achieve this, gas infrastructure will network across the African region, which will be utilized for domestic purposes. He also noted that you could not build on the future energy unless you’ve initial energy. The only way to reduce carbon footprint in Africa is by significantly drilling more gas wells over oil wells. This way, he exclaimed that Africa’s quest for ending energy poverty is attainable.
3. Mr. Kamel Ben – Naceur, the President, Society of Petroleum Engineers International
Mr. Kamel, as an international authority, spoke about SPE’s goals to complement the sustainable development goals of the UN by pointing out that energy transition policies vary from developed economies to developing economies. Moreover, Kamel talked about the SPEi’s plan to collaborate with sister organizations to create a CO2 Assessment tool for CO2 storage. Despite experiencing low investment in six years due to sensitivity of the global market concerning the political events, he said, the oil and gas industry has now witnessed a significant increment in investment by 20%. Finally, Mr. Kamel admitted that Africa has a vital role to play when it comes to the energy transition.
4. Proscovia NABBANJA, Chief Executive Office, Ugandan National Oil Company
The CEO shared her country’s mission to explore opportunities and investments in the Ugandan energy sector. Through strategic project planning, the government has attracted suitable investments. Mrs. Proscovia further discussed the country’s goals in exploring opportunities in non-fossil fuels.
5. Cany Jobe, Director of Exploration, Gambia National Oil Company
Cany Jobe, who carries over 14 years of work in energy projects in West Africa, shared her views on balancing the energy mix. She spoke passionately about Africa should drive her energy transition framework. She rhetorically asked, what we are transitioning from (?). The discussion should be around solving energy poverty in Africa rather than energy transition. In her final remarks, she said that Africa’s energy sector faces financial constraints, and it is not feasible to achieve energy transition without optimizing energy production. If you haven’t gone through it (energy poverty), she said you have no right to talk about it.
In Africa, energy poverty reigns. This is the only continent of the world with a massive gap between modern energy access in the rural and urban areas. According to a report [5], “A clean energy revolution in sub-Saharan Africa is urgently needed to win the fight against energy poverty. Clean energy provides a golden thread to deliver on the promise of Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement”.
While the Sub-Saharan African region becomes a hub of energy poverty, efforts are underway by both states and federal governments at different levels to address the problem. In all, relevant stakeholders must work extra-hard towards addressing the energy crisis because there is ample opportunity in solar and power, which are cheaper than coal in some countries. This will generate more job opportunities and accelerate the energy transition.
Written by Haruna Inuwa, Energy Professional from Lagos state, Nigeria.
Reference
[1] https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/09/total-nigeria-plc-changes-name-to-totalenergies-marketing-nigeria-plc-official/#:~:text=Energy%20transition%3A%20Total%20changes%20name,five%20in%20renewables%20by%202030.
[2] https://www.shell.com.ng/media/2021-media-releases/shell-unveils-shell-energy-business-in-nigeria.html
[3] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/the-big-choices-for-oil-and-gas-in-navigating-the-energy-transition#:~:text=The%20primary%20technologies%E2%80%94renewable%20power,all%20represent%20potential%20growth%20markets.
[4] https://punchng.com/nigeria-nine-others-account-for-75-global-gas-flaring-world-bank/
[5] https://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/climate-futures/Achieving-clean-energy-access-Sub-Saharan-Africa.pdf
