NNPC Ltd CEO stresses energy security as key to successful public wealth creation

Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mr Mele Kyari, making a presentation at a conference organised by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) on Public Wealth Management in Abuja... Tuesday, February 20, 2024.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria's state-owned oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), has emphasized that ensuring energy security is essential for achieving significant progress in any national effort aimed at creating value from public resources. 

In his statement, Mr. Mele Kyari highlighted the importance of securing reliable access to energy sources as a fundamental requirement for successful economic development and growth. He underscored that without addressing energy security concerns, it would be challenging to attain sustainable prosperity through public wealth initiatives.

The GCEO stated this in a presentation at the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Public Wealth Management Conference, which held in Abuja on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.

He noted that all other wealth creating activities such as agriculture rely heavily on one form of energy or the other to thrive.

“If you don’t have energy, you don’t have agriculture. You can do all the agriculture but you can’t take it to the market, you may not be able to preserve it, you can’t even export it. So, all those indices are clearly connected to the ability to create energy,” he emphasized.

He disclosed that Nigeria has a huge energy deficit with about 70% of the population lacking access to clean cooking fuel and over 50% lacking access to electricity. 

He listed some of the impediments to the achievement of energy security in Nigeria to include lack of investment in the energy sector due to uncertainty in the business environment and multiple taxation, adding that in the last 10 years, less than 3% of the total investment flow into Africa came into Nigeria.

He, however, assured that NNPC Ltd was working hard to lay the foundation for sustainable wealth creation by filling the energy deficit gap, stressing that the company’s growth trajectory from a loss position N803bn in 2018 to N2.5tr in 2022 was a testimony to the abundant potential of NNPC Ltd to lead the process of wealth creation in the country.

In a press release signed by Olufemi O. Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Mele emphasized that in spite of the challenges, NNPC Ltd is still the highest tax paying corporate entity in Nigeria. 

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