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The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Mr. Mele Kyari, at the ongoing COP 28 in Dubai, restated the gains for a just energy transition for Africa.
While addressing global energy leaders, he pointed out that African continent needs “a just, differentiated transition” to enable it to harness its resources for today for the benefit of future generations.
A statement by Mr. Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, on Monday, said the GCEO joined other global energy leaders from the United States, Holland, and Oman to highlight energy perspectives and insights on the evolving energy market, harping on the need for the world to understand Africa’s peculiarities in addressing the effects of climate change on energy businesses.
Kyari spoke at a regional CEO panel organised by McKinsey & Company on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNCCC), also known as the COP28 Conference, in Dubai, UAE.
Kyari said: “I have always advocated for a differentiated and just energy transition. In Africa, we have different circumstances compared to other places in the world.
“In Africa today, 75% of our population doesn’t have access to electricity, leaving us with biomass as a key energy source. The world needs to recognize that the most practicable thing today is to substitute what we have in the short term to close the energy gap for our rising population.”
With Nigeria forecasted to be among the global top 10 economies by 2035 and third in terms of the global population by the same year, Kyari said it was critical that the energy poverty question be discussed as nations unite to achieve net zero by 2050.
The GCEO said NNPCL has showed practical commitment towards achieving net zero by 2050, by signing up to be a participant in the United Nations Global Compact in New York, becoming the first state-owned oil company to join the global initiative.
As part of efforts to combate gas flaring in almost all its gas projects, Kyari said Nigeria is converting gas into power to boost nationwide electricity supply, create employment opportunities, and trigger the nation’s industrial and economic development.
According to the NNPC Ltd boss, with abundant natural gas reserves of 206 trillion cubic feet (tcf) that has the potential to rise to 600tcf, Nigeria is currently utilizing gas to drive its journey towards energy transition.
“NNPC Ltd. is creating a regional gas pipeline network to supply natural gas across the African continent and boost its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supply to the foreign market.”
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