The minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has expressed optimism that Nigeria may receive the nod to host the African Energy Bank (AEB).
The bank, he said, is key to driving the necessary investment needed to boost the country’s oil production and increase government’s revenue.
To him, “For the African Energy Bank, we are running with Ghana. It is now between Nigeria and Ghana on which of them will be able to get the headquarters of the African Energy Bank. The African Energy Bank starts with $5 billion. If we have it in Nigeria, in four to five years, it will grow to About $120 billion. Imagine what that will do to the GDP of our economy. We must try our best to ensure we get the headquarters of the African Energy Bank to Nigeria,” Lokpobiri said, while speaking during an energy event in Lagos.
“The solution is to talk to ourselves to reach out to the banks we have in Nigeria. We should put funds into our banks to make them strong enough. As a government, we will do everything globally possible to attract the desired investments. We are willing to remove all bottlenecks in the industry. The president has directed that we should remove all the bottlenecks. And that is why we are trying to remove the problem of OML425, the popular Malabu Oil Field.
“If we don’t attract investments, this resource we have will just be buried under the soil with no value addition. I’ve accompanied the president to several countries of the world and I’ve heard him tell potential investors that, ‘bring in your money and take out your money at will’. That means, come and invest and divest at will. We are not against any company that wants to divest.
“If in the next few years, we are able to ramp up production and increase our revenue base, we will not necessarily need the Big 5’s to monopolise our investment”.
Lokpobiri stated, “But the summary of what I want to say today is that, as a government, our own policy is to ensure that we do everything that is globally possible that other countries don’t have and that other countries are doing to attract investment, so that we can attract the desired investment.
“We are willing to remove all bottlenecks in the industry because every country that has oil, prioritises investment in the oil and gas sector, and that is why as a government, the president has directed that we should resolve all problems we have in the industry.”