“There’s nothing too special that Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu’s appearance at the Africa Oil Week would be tuned out of proportion because he has often been there”, says an international oil and gas commentator, “but there’s every reason to be concerned that Africa’s infrastructure deficit sits astronomically high to the chagrin of meaningful investors…; I think the press should be careful with their trumpets.”
“The Africa infrastructure deficit sits at US$90Billion which poses a huge challenge to investors and operators alike”, says the press release. For Paul Sinclair, Conference Director of Africa Oil Week also, the infrastructure bottleneck is high and challenging, insisting it was time stakeholders in Africa rose to the occasion rather than make flamboyant statements.
It would be recalled that during the 2017 Africa Oil Week speakers from Super-majors and operators alike re-emphasised the key issues facing the petroleum sector through a lack of continent wide hard and soft infrastructure.
They also believed there were still significant opportunities for the Nigerian oil sector, adding that the launch of the 7Big Wins altered the funding capacity for the upstream sector which has been a strong incentive for additional investment in the upstream sector. The report further stated that projects like Egina deepwater project, worth $15bn; Zabazaba, $10bn; Bonga, $10bn, and others put investments at over $40bn potential investments over the next five years, so revamping the infrastructure was necessary to capitalize on these opportunities. “What we need is to get the policy thrust and the incentives to drive the policy thrust”, Dr. Kachikwu was quoted to have said.
Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu who is expected to launch the Transformative Project Forum, a design aimed at brokering transactions and partnerships on some of the most pressing infrastructure projects in Africa at the AOW 2018 is also expected to open a series of case studies and roundtables exploring case studies on Egina, Bonga South West, AKK Pipeline and many more.
For Paul Sinclair “The future success of the African oil and gas space is dependent on a sustainable future based on a myriad of different factors. The infrastructure conundrum is one that the continent needs to address with the global finance community which will be addressed throughout Africa Oil Week.” Across the 3 days, the Nigerian government will also be welcoming bilateral B2G meetings with investors and operators who are interested in funding and operating within the Nigerian oil and gas sector to meet the region’s growing demands.
“The challenges facing oil companies is very different today. Investment in oil has got to provide the resources to power this country; a transparent operational environment and employment opportunities for locals. Nigeria needs to be seen a serious player and fixing how the state runs the oil sector is the key to the development of the Nigerian economy”, Dr. Kachikwu stated.
