Why Africa may come last in phasing out fossils fuel ― Dr Najah

As the world keeps a tab on the energy transition programme, the continent of Africa may come the last in facing out fossils fuel as a source of energy.

This is just as the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, Delta State, is set to emerge as the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) Regional Centre of Excellence for training in oil and gas.

These were disclosed by the Director Research Division African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), Dr. Tahar Najah, during a visit to PTI on Wednesday to ascertain the suitability of the institute as a regional training hub for the oil and gas sector across Africa.

Other members of the APPO team included Mrs. Temilola George, Head of the Hydrocarbon Studies/Data Unit; Member Mr. Tchananti Sahgui Tiatti, Head of Capacity Development; Member Mr. Serge Desire Kohemun, Downstream Industry Analyst and Member Mr. Isa Muazu, Consultant.

The visit was in line with APPO’s mission and strategic objectives to promote cooperation among member countries by encouraging synergies and sharing of experience through regional training research centers in Africa to address the imminent challenges of the Energy Transition.

Speaking to journalists on the future of fossil fuels, Dr. Najah described it as impractical given that dependency on it is still over 80 per cent, particularly in Africa.

“Maybe phasing out fossil fuels is the wish of some people, but today, about 80 per cent of global energy is powered by fossil fuels; can you get this reversed to zero tomorrow?

“This is impractical. Even though we wish to phase out fossil fuels, this will take time. There are a lot of technological and investment challenges; every country has its circumstances, and Africa has its affairs.

“We’ll be the last to leave fossil fuels,” he declared.

On the choice of PTI as one of the training and research centres of APPO in Africa, Dr. Najah said: “We know that this is a very great institution for training the oil and gas industry and we know that this is an institution with capacity, experience and excellence and we are eager to see the facilities and to know more about the institute.”

Admitting that there’s a lot to learn from Nigeria as a giant in the oil and gas sector, especially in the area of local content, the APPO director said the initiative will “enhance collaboration between our member countries on capacity building.”

APPO is the association of all the African Countries that produce Petroleum collaborating to harness natural resources better.

Also speaking earlier during the visit, Dr. Henry Adimula, PTI’s Principal & Chief Executive, affirmed that the intention of APPO to establish a Regional Centre of Excellence is to develop the capacity of Africans in the oil and gas business.

Adimula expressed optimism, saying, “They are visiting the institution to assess facilities they will use as Regional Centre of Excellence for training, and PTI, based on our track records, the history of our past achievements, is being considered.

“If found suitable, which they will, then we will be designated as a Regional Centre of Excellence and that kind of training can be domiciled here.

“So, the advantages are enormous because it will make this place an international centre where people from all over the African continent and other parts of the world would come to get their training.”

Corroborating Dr. Adimula’s disclosure, Dr. Najah emphasized that his team’s mission was to establish the capacity and capability of the institution to make it a Regional Centre.

“We are here to see the capacity and capability as we want to establish a Regional Centre of Excellence for training.

“We have many options for how we are going about establishing these centres. First, the general scope is collaboration amongst our members on training.

“This is the whole idea, so we are looking at what capacity exists and how they can train our people,” he noted.

The visit highlighted the inspection of PTI training facilities by the APPO team.