Energy, future of Nigeria, Africa – Tinubu’s aide at South Africa summit

BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI

The Special Adviser on Energy to the President of Nigeria, Office of Energy, Mrs. Olu Arowolo Verheijen, has said that the future prosperity of African countries, including Nigeria, is rooted in energy development.

This was contained in her opening address at the African Energy Week held at Cape Town, South Africa, recently.

In a statement she personally signed and made available to journalists on Wednesday, Mrs. Verheijen said the theme of the meet, “The Future of Energy: Shaping the Workforce of Tomorrow,” was critical to Africa’s development at this time.

“As Africans, we are at a point in our developmental process where energy access is critical in shaping the continent’s future. Our resources (including renewables) are abundant, yet over 75 per cent of the population lack sufficient energy access.

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“As a continent seeking to change this narrative, we must ensure that energy ceases to be the limiting factor in Africa, but becomes a tool for driving industrialisation and development. One of the ways we can address this is through a productive energy workforce.

“There is no doubt that the future we are moving into will be very different from where we are coming and what we are used to. It will take incredible amounts of human energy and a diversity of talent and expertise to enable us adapt to these rapidly evolving and often unpredictable scenarios and circumstances.

“In summary, we are the ones who will determine the outcome of the delicate balance between energy security, affordability and sustainability for this continent.

She also spoke on the limitations placed on women in the energy sector, citing her personal experience as what to learn from.

“I am here today to make the argument that one of the most important ways in which we can shape tomorrow’s African energy workforce is to look beyond the traditional places and welcome a new crop of talent, especially women and young people, who possess a global perspective, reach and understand the context of the 21st Century, and are equipped with the fresh perspectives and bold energy to design and implement radical new solutions to lingering problems.

“While efforts to attract women into STEM and the energy sector are important, attraction alone isn’t enough, retention and advancement to senior levels are equally crucial. The real differentiator for women breaking through from mid-level to executive roles is sponsorship.

“Women need powerful advocates who actively support their growth and position them for opportunities and ensure their representation at the highest levels.

“I have worked in an international oil company, gone on to manage a pan-African portfolio of renewables investments, sat on the board of a 14-billion-dollar Development Finance Institution with footprints in every developing economy on the planet, among other roles.

“I have a global perspective that sees Nigeria not in isolation, but in the context of competition for a global pool of funds that can always go elsewhere.

“Because of this landmark bet on us, we are determined and pour everything into to ensuring that this Presidency ends up far more consequential in reforming and repositioning Nigeria’s energy sector, than any other presidential administration since democracy returned to Nigeria 25 years ago.

“And this is something that many more leaders on the African continent must do, going forward, and with a sense of urgency also. Sponsorship makes a great deal of difference. It is what has allowed male leaders to dominate many leadership positions in public and private sector in Africa today.

“Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act took 20 years to be passed into law and given presidential assent in 2021.

“We are now building on that foundation with an unprecedented sense of urgency, to completely rewrite the narrative of oil and gas investment in Nigeria. We are already seeing the fruit of our work.

“Regulatory approvals are being expedited, major investment decisions are being finalised across the value chain. We have unlocked over $1 billion in investments across the value chain and by the middle of 2025, we expect to see Final Investment Decisions on two more projects, including a multi-billion dollar deep water exploration project, which will be the first of its kind in Nigeria in over a decade – one of many to come.

“We see the abundant opportunities that lie ahead. We see a Nigeria that is a leading global producer and exporter of energy – whether its fossil fuels or renewables. We are not held back by the outdated approaches and assumptions of the past. We are open, daring, and eager to leave a legacy that will stand the test of time.

“I will always be grateful to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for giving me this opportunity, and I intend to pay it forward, in all the ways that I can, for multitudes of young women out there just waiting in the wings for their own chance to show what they are capable of doing.

“I hope that in every country across Africa, these stories will be replicated, and the gender gaps that have come to define our landscape will be aggressively narrowed and closed,” she said.