From Seyi Tayese, Yenagoa
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Ph.D., has called for stronger collaboration among African countries, stressing that shared knowledge, experience and indigenous capacity are critical to strengthening energy security and accelerating continental development.
The Minister made the call while hosting the Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, H.E. Stev Simplice Onanga, who led a delegation from the Government of the Republic of Congo to Nigeria to understudy the country’s local content framework, with a view to exploring areas that could be adapted to strengthen Congo’s petroleum industry.
The Minister described the engagement as a practical example of how African countries can learn from one another and build on successful experiences.
“Congo trying to learn from Nigeria is a welcome development, and it is one of the ways African countries can strengthen energy security on the continent when we learn from each other and leverage it to grow the continent’s capacity.”
According to the Minister, Africa’s energy challenges require solutions that are rooted in African realities, with countries leveraging their respective experiences, expertise and resources for the collective benefit of the continent.
He noted that Nigeria’s local content initiatives have demonstrated the potential of indigenous participation to transform the petroleum industry, pointing to the growing contribution of Nigerian companies across the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.
Minister Itoua, on his part, emphasized the importance of local content to ensuring that Congo’s petroleum resources generate broader economic opportunities for its citizens and businesses, particularly through the development of local enterprises, employment, training and skills transfer.
Sen. Lokpobiri further emphasized that the increasing participation of Nigerian companies alongside international operators has created valuable opportunities for technology transfer, knowledge sharing and cross-pollination of ideas.
He reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to share its experience with other African countries, stressing that stronger intra-African cooperation would enable nations to build capacity, retain greater value from their natural resources and collectively advance the continent’s energy security.
