Obasanjo, Osinbajo, Soludo, Others Proffer Solutions to Africa’s Infrastructure Deficit

Kyari: Continent will fix its energy problems before joining renewables bandwagon AFC launches $2bn intervention for African countries

Several prominent Africans, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, President Nana Akufo-Ado, Governor of Anambra state, and Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, yesterday converged on Abuja to discuss the continent's infrastructure deficit.

Obasanjo contended that if the world must take Africa seriously, the initial financing for major projects must be mobilised from within the continent, stressing that the issue of corruption in projects financing must be eliminated completely.

Speaking at the African Finance Corporation (AFC) organised programme tagged: “The Infrastructure Solutions Summit 2022,” the former Nigerian leader called for continuity of projects even when leadership changes, noting that it remains the bane of development on the continent.

He called for commitment from African leaders in the bid to ramp up major infrastructure on the continent, explaining that for instance, AFC and Transcorp were almost killed because his successor thought he benefitted from both organisations.

“You can see why many projects fail. There has to be that drive. Do you have the drive to get the project off the ground and run with it literally? There has to be continuity. We nearly got AFC and Transcorp as you heard, killed by my successor (because he thought they belonged to Obasanjo and Soludo.), " Obasanjo said.

He explained that after laying the groundwork for the rail system, if the succeeding administration had continued with it, by now Nigeria would have been sufficient in rail transport.

“If we had managed to get the railways going, the way we got AFC and Transcorp going, the situation wouldn't be what it is today. There has to be continuity and that is very important.

“You need the driver at the top but also the people who make things happen. It's a team. I can bulldoze, but if I bulldoze and the team doesn't follow, the land that has been bulldozed will be overgrown with weed,” he argued.

Obasanjo insisted that Africa must provide initial financing like he did with AFC at the time it was formed, explaining that until then, the world will not take the continent seriously.

“We need to have that initial money and we did it with AFC, raising money in Africa. When I called a summit on HIV, I put in $10 million, Bush junior (then American president) put in $200 million. That initial money later raised over $45 billion,” he contended.

Speaking on the energy transition, the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Mele Kyari, stated that although Africa should be conscious of the energy transition, it must fix its peculiar needs before rushing to join the bandwagon.

“We miss the point if we don't recognise that's there's abject energy poverty in Africa and you see that reflect everywhere. I am sure that as you were coming here, you saw fuel queues outside. It tells you the level of energy poverty in this country. We have a very thin supply chain, and a little disruption can cause any problem just like our own nation.

“Having said that, energy transition is not about stopping hydrocarbons or fossil fuels but we are going to get carbon-neutral and what that means is that we are going to have cleaner use of hydrocarbons so that ultimately the negative impact on the environment will be minimal," he noted.

According to Kyari, Africa should not be rushed to join the rat race for renewables, stressing that the continent's contribution to global emissions remains very low.

“In Africa, our contribution is probably 3 to 4 per cent maximum carbon emissions, but we are a very resource-dependent continent. In Nigeria we have over 203 TCF proven gas reserves and potentially about 600 TCF of gas but this can actually fuel and fire Africa.

“But there's very little we can do rather than to first of all address the energy poverty challenge that we have, which means we have to transit gradually. The world has agreed that gas is a transition fuel of choice as we move towards carbon neutrality.