Nigeria and other African countries will require over $100 billion in annual investment in the power sector by 2030 to address their electricity woes which continues to minimise the continent’s economic growth. This was disclosed by Amina Benkhadra, the director general of the Office National des Hydro- carbures et des Mines (ONHYM), the national oil company of Morocco, at the Africa Gas Innovation Summit (AGIS) held in Abuja on Thursday. According to her, Africa is faced with several challenges, including low electrification rate, low agricultural yields, the lowest integration rate in the world, and a deficit in advanced structures. This she said has heightened the need for investment in the region, development of innovations, and new technology.
“When we see the energy needs, it’s important to highlight that to satisfy the increasing African electricity demand, a huge investment of over $100 billion annually in the power sector by 2030 and at the same time, Africa’s growing electricity conception requires substantial investments in power infrastructure up to $3 TRILLION BY 2050.
“We can see also that with its huge reserves of gas, the current gas infrastructure project pipeline can equate to $245 billion with more than 90 percent in the concept stage and to unlock Africa’s energy future, we will need to develop major infrastructure projects both at the level of national and local projects.
“So, we have to raise the ambitions of Africa’s energy strategy to increase the power generation capacity, deepen the reforms of our energy governance, encourage public partnership, and private partnership investment, mobilise those international investments that we have seen just before and contribute to development through technology and innovation approaches,” she said.
Speaking on the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline which was proposed in December 2016 by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the ONHYM, Benkhadra said that it will contribute to accelerating electrification and energy sufficiency in areas covered and contribute to economic integration and development of industrial sectors.
The $25 billion pipeline would connect Nigerian gas to every coastal country in West Africa (Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’ivoire, Liberia, Sierra leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania), ending at Tangiers, Morocco, and codis, spain. It would be an extension of the existing West African Gas Pipeline which already connects Nigeria with Benin, Togo and Ghana.
Benkhadra further stressed the need for leaders to consider that the role of emerging and developing countries, especially a lot of African countries, is now an essential component in achieving the global transition to an efficient system compatible with the imperatives of sustainable development. She stated that Africa must play a role in the transition, particularly Nigeria, with its crucial resources.