FG woos foreign, local investors to energy sector

The federal government has called on foreign and local investors to look the way of Nigeria’s energy sector, assuring favourable Return on Investment (ROI).

The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, said this when he declared open the National Energy Summit in Abuja on Tuesday.

“I call for both foreign and local investment to help us build the necessary infrastructure needed for efficient and effective exploitation of the huge energy resources available in the country.”

The minister also said although Nigeria is preparing for a post crude oil era, the country’s energy future is still bright. He noted that Nigeria’s membership of the International Energy Charter (IEC) will improve Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country.

The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) partnered with IEC, Brussels and the European Union commission in Nigeria on the energy summit with the theme: ‘Energy Sufficiency and Sustainable Economic Growth: Experiences and Opportunities from Global Energy Cooperation and the International Energy Charter’.

Director General of ECN, Prof. Eli Jidere Bala who lauded the participants, said the summit was to help in promoting energy development in Nigeria as he called on the private sector to set the pace.

Prof. Bala noted that it was important that Nigeria’s membership of the IEC facilitates energy sufficiency and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.

The Director General of IEC, Dr Urban Rusnak, who participated virtually, said Nigeria has to transition from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy, adding that it must be cheap, clean, efficient and sustainable.