Recall that while Africa’s healthcare sector is expected to hit about $259 billion in the next seven years, most Africans finance their medicare out-of-pocket, as budgetary allocation remains dismal amid infrastructure deficit.
The experts were calling for a rethink across the continent that would make the Africa Finance Corporation and Africa Energy Bank to provide necessary funding, as they insisted that conversations on energy transition and sustainability were skewed, and not global, as being pushed. Represented by Group Executive Director, NNPC Limited Downstream, Adeyemi Adetunji, the GCEO stressed the need for investment in homegrown technologies and innovations that would support decisions, improve operational efficiency, minimise impacts on the environment and provide a new competitive edge.
He said the trilemma of achieving decarbonization of existing operations, reinforcing energy supply security and ensuring price stability must be balanced. According to him, oil would continue to be an important source of energy for Africa, stressing however that its production and operation must be cleaner to keep with global standards.
“While fossil fuels will continue to remain the major source of Africa’s energy demand, particularly through oil, it is expected that there will be a major shift towards a modern and cleaner energy mix. Ibrahim noted that Africa remained the most affected in the global energy challenge, adding that sustainability being pursued as a global norm posed concern to African countries.