FG committed to deepening ties with the UAE
Omeiza Bilal
The Federal Government through the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri has expressed its commitment to deepening ties with the United Arab Emirate (UAE).
Sen. Lokpobiri stated this when the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, paid him a courtesy visit in his office on Monday, 20th May, 2024.
The Minister stated that Nigeria would improve on its existing relationship with the UAE. He added that he has been interfacing with his counterpart in the UAE in that regard.
He added that; “Nigeria as a country is committed to the Paris agreement but we are also saying that no country is slowing down on fossil fuel production particularly for Africa; we need to create more investment opportunities for investments to come in so that we can create the requisite funding for us to be able to finance our transition”
He also noted that, every country in the world including the UAE that is among the leading countries in terms of flow of investments achieved their successes from investment flow.
“For us in Africa, in Nigeria particularly, what we are looking for is to build strategic partnership with the UAE and the rest of the world so that we would be able to raise the money that is needed to finance energy transition as canvassed globally”
Sen. Lokpobiri called on investors in the UAE to come and invest in Nigeria, noting that “The quickest way for any investor to get returns from investment is through the oil and gas sector”.
The minister noted that Nigeria should be doing more than the crude deposits volumes of 37 billion barrel, stating that, “At the inception of the current administration, part of what was said was the need to resume our drilling campaigns to ensure that we make more discoveries and sustain that momentum. We are achieving that by liberalizing the processes. We are trying to limit the bureaucracy that has been one of the reasons why some of these investments were delayed; we are trying to make things easier for those who want to invest to come in”.
In his response, the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi thanked the Minister for his warm reception and he expressed excitement about the improvement in the economy of Nigeria.
He further stated that, going forward, the technical teams from the Ministry and the UAE Embassy would need to interface and explore areas of collaboration and partnership between the two countries.
