The Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Mele Kyari, has advocated for a “just, differentiated transition” for Africa regarding global energy dynamics and climate change issues.
He stated that the continent requires balanced considerations in order to utilize its natural resource wealth to advance socioeconomic development.
The NNPCL GCEO made this known while speaking at a Regional CEO Panel organised by McKinsey & Company on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Conference on Climate Change, also known as the COP28 Conference, in Dubai, UAE, on Monday.
Kyari, who joined other global energy leaders from the United States, Holland, and Oman to highlight energy perspectives and insights on the evolving energy market, said the world must understand Africa’s peculiarities in addressing the effects of climate change on energy businesses.
“I have always advocated for a differentiated and just energy transition. In Africa, we have different circumstances compared to other places in the world,” he said.
“In Africa today, 75 per cent of our population doesn’t have access to electricity, leaving us with biomass as a key energy source. “
The world needs to recognise 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 over 600 million Africans lacking access to electricity and clean cooking fuels, he argued that a blanket ban on fossil investments in Africa by Western financial institutions in the name of net-zero emissions will damage livelihoods.
Kyari reiterated that Nigeria was committed to energy transition by increasing natural gas production to replace dirtier fuels like coal and oil. Gas has fewer emissions.
However, he said investments were still required for oil and gas projects to fund economic growth and job creation – a launch pad for future green initiatives.
“No country has achieved energy transition without utilizing its energy resources,” Kyari emphasised. He highlighted the need for wealthy Western nations to support Africa’s transition through technology transfer and climate finance.
With Nigeria projected to be among the global top 10 economies by 2035 and 3rd in terms of the global population by the same year, the GCEO said the energy poverty question needed to be discussed as nations unite to achieve net zero by 2050.
According to the NNPCL boss, with abundant natural gas reserves of 206 trillion cubic feet that have the potential to rise to 600tcf, Nigeria is currently utilising gas to drive its journey towards energy transition.
The NNPC GCEO said Nigeria was on course to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 but cannot meet these global targets without active collaboration by developed partners.
He called for a compromise between environment sustainability goals and development needs of energy-poor nations which Africa hosts most of.
Kyari advocated for more African voices to drive the global dialogue on equitable, affordable transition to clean energy for all.
