Nigeria and the rest of Africa must develop a transition strategy and agenda focusing more on decarbonising energy sources rather than abandoning of natural resources as canvassed by the developed economies.
The executive director, Governance and Sustainability with Sahara Group, Ejiro Gray who made the call during a session with the media in Abuja, insisted that Nigeria and Africa cannot afford to sacrifice development for climate change, following the state of backwardness in the continent.
While noting that changing technologies and policies were usually the catalysts for energy transitions which were never a complete switch from the old source of energy nor an immediate action plan, she listed reduction of greenhouse emission, improvement of public health, the use of inexhaustible energy and creation of jobs and economic benefits as key reasons why the world embraced energy transition.
Gray, who warned that continued dependence on the transition agenda and strategy of developed countries may not augur well for Africa’s development, noted that struggling African countries including Nigeria who were listed amongst developing risk economies need advice on how best to reach their own energy transition goals.
She said: “Unfortunately, the way we’ve developed our resources over time has not favoured development in this part; we just extract and export so technically, we are so reliant on these other economies and for as long as you don’t have something tangible you are selling to also make your currency strong and reduce import dependency, you are going to be at the mercy of the dollar.
“So it’s one of the reasons why I would say let’s take energy transition seriously but in our own way.
We should take it seriously in Africa; what is our own agenda in the continent, how intentional are we about driving development?
Let’s start truly developing our continent with our resources because the people clamouring for energy transition are using our resources to develop their economy.
“If we are going to take it seriously we cannot come from the angle that the West is coming from, we cannot be preaching about climate change because that is not the most severe of our problems. Whether we like it or not people are hungry, they just want development so if you’re talking to them about climate change, they’re not going to listen to you. Let’s address it from our own perspective from what actually works for us.
“Advise us on how best we can achieve our goal but we determine the goal and the speed that will get us to our destination.
“We can choose to go with your advice, we can choose not to without you penalising us for not going with you and that is what we don’t have because we don’t really have the funding even in terms of policy formulation we need assistance because it’s new to us. Those are the kinds of things that we need them to help us with.
“But we just now decide what our strategy is. Enough of the pity party it will not get us anyway. How can we sort of insulate ourselves as a continent from you can’t do it 100 per cent?
“There will always be some reliance but at least not to the point where we’re at. We are constantly at their mercy because right now any small shaking will bring the economies especially in Sub Saharan Africa to their knees.”
Speaking further, the Sahara Group Executive charged the media bring out the real issues, drive an energy transition narrative that works for Nigeria and Africa by educating people on what was important and what would work for the country and continent, rather than join “the bandwagon with whatever narrative the west is pushing.”
Gray who disclosed that Sahara Group was focused on gas, however frowned at the deficit of gas infrastructure in the country, and the non implementation of policies aimed at domesticating the use of gas in the country.
“The problem is with gas we need infrastructure and like the oil sector, so much of our gas has been focused on either flaring or export. We have the laws, we intend to implement these laws but we then find out we seem to be entering transactions that seem to oppose the policy we say we have enacted. To drive domestic gas utilisation, infrastructure is key.”
While noting that Sahara Group supplies at least 25 percent of Nigeria’s power supply, she added, “apart from gas to power we want to ensure we can push it to industries for manufacturing and as auto gas develops, we need to be able to push that as well.”
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