By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Royal Dutch Shell is set to purchase African solar provider, Daystar Power, as it expands its global renewables footprint and seek to work towards its carbon emission reduction policy.
The company which has operated in Nigeria for over six decades supports the ambitious goal to tackle climate change laid out in the Paris Agreement which is to limit the rise in average global temperature to 1.5°Celsius.
In October 2021, the oil giant set a target to reduce absolute emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, compared to 2016 and has come under immense pressure from investors to end its “incoherent” stance on climate action.
“As we do this, we’re helping to address a critical energy gap for many who currently rely on diesel generators for backup power,” Shell’s Vice President for Renewable Generation, Thomas Brostrøm, said in a statement.
But neither Shell nor Daystar commented on the sale price. Shell earmarked $2-3 billion in capital expenditure for renewables and energy solutions in 2022, according to Reuters.
Daystar, headquartered in Lagos, provides off-grid power to commercial and industrial clients in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Senegal, offering solar and hybrid power solutions with battery storage.
It has 300 power installations with installed solar capacity of 32 megawatts, but aims to boost capacity to 400 MW by 2025.
It also plans to expand to eastern and southern Africa, a goal that Daystar Chief Executive, Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, said would be easier to reach with Shell.
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“For the next stage – really becoming a pan-Africa power provider – it requires an investor with the same vision. Someone really with sufficient firepower to finance this growth,” Brostrøm added.
In his comments, von Hardenberg said his company needed to raise more money to meet growing demand but opted to sell to Shell due to the latter’s strong balance sheet and “long history in Africa.” Both parties started discussing a potential deal in 2019, it was learnt.
Pending regulatory approvals, Shell will fully own Daystar, but von Hardenberg and the management team will continue to run the company.
The cash inflow from Shell will help Daystar increase its installed solar capacity to 400mw by 2025 from 32mw and also expand services beyond Nigeria to East and Southern Africa where it is seeing increasing demand from South Africa, von Hardenberg, chief executive and co-founder, said in an interview.
FAO pledges construction of farmers’ resilience to agric disaster, shocks
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has promised to build more resilience of farmers to shocks arising from agricultural disasters in Nigeria.
UN body reiterated the need to move away from managing disasters to managing risks to build farmers’ resilience to manage shocks bedeviling the sector.
FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel, said the support is in line with the organization’s mission which is to support its members in achieving sustainable agriculture and good transformation.
Haile-Gabriel, who is on a five-day visit to Nigeria with the FAO Deputy Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience Shukri Ahmed, said the visit is aimed at interacting with key government officials and different stakeholders in drive towards food security and achieving sustainable development goals agenda of zero hunger.
While noting that Nigeria remains a very important partner for FAO, he said the organisation will continue to strengthen its partnership with the Nigerian government so as to achieve food security amidst daunting challenges facing the agricultural sector.
