Oando PLC (herewith referred to as the Company), Nigeria’s leading energy solutions provider, participated as a Titanium Sponsor at the recently concluded Africa Oil Week (AOW) held in Cape Town, South Africa, from October 3 – 7, 2022. In addition to being the event’s headline sponsor, our renewable energy subsidiary, Oando Clean Energy, sponsored the maiden edition of Green Energy Assembly Summit (GEA) at the AOW.
Africa Oil Week is the continent’s leading Oil and Gas gathering with over a thousand key industry players. The conference themed ‘Sustainable Growth in a Low Carbon Market,’ served as a forum for Government officials, national and international oil companies, independents, investors, corporate players, and financers to share their strategies for growth and better national participation in the oil and gas sector. Participants also engaged in high-level discussions on the future of the continent’s oil and gas industry, focusing on current challenges and trends as well as proffering solutions that will provide a positive and lasting impact for all.
Representing the Company, the Chief Operating Officer, Oando Energy Resources, Dr. Ainojie ‘Alex’ Irune gave a keynote address themed, “Indigenous Leadership in a Changing Industry: A Nigerian Perspective” at the Ministerial & VIP Symposium. Commenting on how Africa can propel its energy transition, Dr. Irune said “The answer lies in accelerating the extraction of the reserves we have in the ground in a carbon-friendly way, driving investment in gas as a transition fuel, and using the resources from that to invest in renewables, such that it is price competitive and leads to the prosperity of our continent.”
Dr. Irune was also a panelist on a session themed “African Resources for the African Continent – Driving Regional Energy Markets,” alongside H.E. Mohamed Mahemed Oun, Minister of Oil and Gas, State of Libya; H.E Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Republic of Uganda; Mahaman Laouan Gaya, Former Minister and Former Secretary General of APPO; Stephen Lujwahuka Byabato, Deputy Minister for Energy, Union Republic, Tanzania; Toks Azeez, Ethics & Compliance Business Manager, Baker Hughes; and Papa Samba, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Senegal.
Speaking further on Africa’s energy transition, Dr. Irune said, “65% of the African continent is energy deficient. In resolving this, renewable energy will play a bigger role while fossil fuels continue to exist in small proportions. Therefore, the simultaneous carbon-friendly extraction of oil and the pursuit of gas transition will be the lever that will move Africa to where it needs to be.”
Ademola Ogunbanjo, Executive Vice-President, Oando Clean Energy Limited, gave a presentation at the Green Energy Assembly Summit where he spoke extensively on the energy transition. He said: “The energy transition discussion, for Africa and Nigeria by extension, is also about revenue generation and existential survival of economies. Thus, if Africa must move to renewable energy, it must ramp up efforts in this decade to generate power to ensure the industrialization and digitization of the continent, as neither of these can be achieved without adequate energy.”
Kofo Olagunju, GM, External Relations, Oando PLC, also participated in a panel discussion titled “Attracting and retaining talent: What steps does the energy industry need to ensure it is attracting new talent across the board?” alongside panelists Thomas Hay, VP Marketing, Shearwater GeoServices, Sesakho Magadla, Acting Lead Project Manager, Petro SA and Gemma Littlewood, Project Manager, Oil Spill Response Ltd. The panel, moderated by Elizabeth Rogo, Founder & CEO – TSAVO Oilfield Services; explored the crucial steps required to attract new talent into the sector as a strategy to ensure diversification, innovation and the future of the industry.
Akinbambo Ibidapo-Obe, GM Commercial, Oando Energy Resources, made a presentation at the Prospect Forum, a niche forum for national companies to present farm-down opportunities. During his presentation, Akinbambo showcased Oando’s vast portfolio of oil and gas assets and interests in 16 licenses for the exploration, development and production of assets located onshore, in swamps, and offshore. The Company acts as both operator and partner to Nigerian and Multinational companies and has strategically achieved growth by organic means of optimizing its existing portfolio, developing proven but undeveloped assets; and inorganic means through governmental bid rounds as well as acquiring unutilized near-term production assets from International Oil Companies during divestment programs.
Africa Oil Week was attended by +30 ministers and dignitaries, +1,800 senior delegates and suite-c executives, +500 companies of Africa’s leading energy companies including Hon. Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral & Energy Resources, Republic of South Africa; David M. Turk, US Department of Energy; Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Seplat; and Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General, APPO. The conference provided opportunities to stimulate deals and transactions across the African energy industry which would drive investment and businesses to shape the future of Africa.
About Oando PLC
Oando PLC is Africa’s leading indigenous energy solutions provider operating in the upstream sector, with interests in the downstream. Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oando is the first African company to have a cross-border inward listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
In 2014, Oando acquired ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian business through its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER), making it the country’s leading indigenous oil and gas producer. OER has a portfolio of oil and gas assets in Nigeria and Sao Tome & Principe. It holds interests in 16 licenses for exploration, development, and production of oil and gas concessions.
