‘Energy Transition Target Needs Huge Investment’

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Initiative (NEITI) says Nigeria would require huge investments in the coming years for it to meet its energy transition targets.
The Executive Secretary, NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, stated this when he received the Ambassador of Belgium, Pieter Leenknegt, High Commissioner of Australia, Ms. Leilani Bin-Juda, and High Commissioner of Canada, Jamie Christoff, at NEITI House, in Abuja.
Orji said with Nigeria’s economy still largely reliant on the oil and gas industry, the question of what becomes of its huge hydrocarbon deposits needs to be resolved.
Noting the Federal Government’s decision to use natural gas as the transition fuel, he stated that about $20 billion annual investments were needed in the next ten years to develop gas infrastructure.
Orji said “at current dependency levels, Nigeria and most developing countries already face significant threats to their economy from the prospect of a permanent decline in global demand for crude oil.
“Given the fiscal problems Nigeria has experienced from short-term disruptions in crude oil and gas output, the much longer-term and permanent decline in demand would have a far-reaching impact on the country’s economy.
“While the transition from carbon-based fuel will have significant long-term impact on Nigeria’s revenue and exports, the transition would also have other impacts on the economy.
“A direct consequence of the transition would be the loss of fossil fuel as a source of energy. In 2021, crude oil and gas accounted for 46% of energy use and 78% of electricity generation in Nigeria.
“The transition would therefore require significant financial investment for the country to generate renewable energy to replace energy previously generated from carbon fuels.
He added that the fear of the “known risks in most of the affected countries far outweighs the potential unknown opportunities except we utilize the immense opportunities within the extractive industries transparency initiative, its global network and multi stakeholders framework to search for solutions”.
The NEITI boss further charged the countries’ representatives to “consider looking towards these areas as you strive to bridge the current existing investment gaps between Nigeria and your countries”.
In their separate remarks, the envoys pledged their support to NEITI and the wider stakeholders’ community in Nigeria to promote transparency in the extractive industries.