By Eyo Nsima
The developed and developing world have been urged to adopt gas as a vehicle for achieving the global Energy transition.
Speaking at the ongoing Africa Oil Week, in Cape Town, South Africa, Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Energy Plc, Roger Brown, said that investment in Africa’s energy industry would help the developed nations, improve their energy security at little cost to the environment while complying with all their Environmental, Social and Governance, ESG requirements.
He said: “We must become independent from Russian oil,, coal and gas. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said earlier this year. We need to act now to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices, diversify our gas supply for next winter and accelerate the clean energy transition.
“It’s a win-win for everybody. Using gas is also far less damaging than going back to coal, as some European nations are doing.
“By embracing African gas, developed nations can reduce the impacts of the upheaval in Europe by diversifying their suppliers and sources, while still mitigating the existential threat from climate change.”
The former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe kachukwu, had said: “We need an Afrocentric Energy transition. Africa must look after its own interests. We must be fair to ourselves.
“We must not pace ourselves according to emotion,” he said. “Our transition must be driven by Afrocentrism – by what is in the best interests of Africa’s people.”
Similarly, the South African Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, had said: “We need an energy mix that will sustain our development. The real issue is in the detail of that transition. The African energy transition must be systemic, it must be people-centric, and it must be community focused.”
