(5 minutes read)
· Niger’s Secretary General in said that his country had concluded preliminary studies for the implementation of power projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide
· The Niger government has embarked on an aggressive plan to increase access to power for its predominantly youth population from present level of 16% to 80% by 2035
· The completion of the 1950-Km Niger-Benin oil pipeline to be built by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will be an important milestone in this regard.
· The pipeline network will evacuate crude to the global markets via the port of Seme in Benin from Niger’s prolific Agadem basin
Niger’s Secretary General in the ministry of Energy Balla Mahaman Rabiou said that his country had concluded preliminary studies for the implementation of power projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide. The Niger government has embarked on an aggressive plan to increase access to power for its predominantly youth population from the present level of 16% to 80% by 2035. Focus will be on rural areas, which have a huge power gap, power access levels of less than 5%. A good number of the projects are on clean energy, such as solar mini-grids, taking advantage of Niger’s abundance of sunlight throughout the year.
Recently, the African Energy Chamber representatives visited Niger and pledged their support to the Niger overnment’s initiatives to attract much needed investment into the country.
Senior VP with the African Energy Chamber Verner Ayukegba appreciated Niger’s plan to drastically increase access to reliable and affordable electricity for its youthful population and hoped that it would increase the living conditions of the population, besides helping
industrialization of the country.
Enhancing accessibility to power has been a consistent policy of Niger. In this regard, the country is supported by donor partners like Power Africa, USAID and the European Union. The new plans are targeting to tap resources from within by increased oil production.
Oil production is scheduled to increase from currently 20,000 barrels per day to 120,000 in 2024. The completion of the 1950-Km Niger-Benin oil pipeline to be built by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will be an important milestone in this regard. The pipeline network will evacuate crude to the global markets via the port of Seme in Benin from Niger’s prolific Agadem basin.
The pipeline also will catalyze oil exploration in the country. British minor, Savannah Energy, is leading the way with 5 discoveries from 5 exploration wells drilled with a combined estimate of 6.7 billion barrels of oil Initially. Several other companies are
currently negotiating with the government to secure exploration licenses in Niger. Expectation is that with the type of investments that is likely to come to Niger, the West African country will soon become a major destination for investments into the mining and
energy sectors.
The National Oil Company, SONIDEP, which was initially focused solely on the distribution of petroleum products, is now embarked on a reorganization with the mandate to ramp up its activities in the upstream and midstream sectors. SONIDEP is planning to obtain
exploration licenses, which it intends to, develop, together with experienced technical partners. Niger is a stable democracy and that can be leveraged to get more investments in the hydrocarbon sector.
