By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, Monday charged Africa countries on alternative funding for hydrocarbon energy.
He advised that countries with fossil fuel should look inward and look for alternative funding for hydrocarbon energy instead of relying on Western funding.
The minister said this while delivering his keynote address at the maiden edition of the African Local Content Investment Forum held in Lagos.
Speaking about how local content has been developed and encouraged in Nigeria, Chief Timipre Sylva said : “On 3” June 2021, I had the privilege to declare open the maiden edition of the African Local Content Roundtable (ALCR), in Yenagoa Bayelsa state, to set the agenda for a Pan – African approach to hydrocarbon development that is driven by “in-continent value creation”.
” In my concluding remarks, | charged the conveners of the roundtable ie NCDMB and APPO to ensure that there is a follow up to actualize the key insights and recommendations from the Roundtable.”
“It therefore gives me great pleasure that in less than one year, we are here to discuss a major outcome from the Africa Local content Roundtable, which is centered around sustainable funding of the Africa oil and gas industry”.
“The Theme of this Forum ‘Evolving A Pan-African strategy towards sustainable funding of Africa oil and gas projects’ is apt as it demonstrates our commitment as a community to redefine and open – up new frontiers for funding hydrocarbon development for economic growth, job creation, technology development and energy security,” the Minister said.