The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, Chief Tony Attah, has said that over 800 million people across Africa do not have access to cleaner energy.
 
He also stated that in Nigeria, more than 100,000 people die every year by inhaling smoke from unclean energy. Attah, who led the management team of the company on a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Felix Ogbe,  said the company’s core vision is to ensure energy security and industrialisation in Nigeria and also to achieve cleaner energy for the country.
 
He said the company is in the oil and gas sector to tackle the problems and give Nigeria cleaner energy sources. Renaissance Africa Energy, which recently acquired the total shares and assets of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Nigeria, also promised to represent Nigerian Content across Africa in the oil and gas sector.
 
Attah said: “We are Renaissance; renaissance for us is a new beginning, a rebirth and perhaps the greatest opportunity for Nigerians and indeed for this industry. We are ourselves Nigerian Content; we are wholly Nigerian. But as we are speaking, in the sidebar, we have ambition for the rest of Africa; so we have ambition not just to be the best in Nigeria.”

but to represent Nigerian Content across Africa. So, everything we take from you we want to be able to replicate and showcase Nigeria through the help and vision of NCDMB.
 
“Our vision is to be the African leader in energy, most importantly to enable energy security. And when we speak about energy security, we speak from two dimensions.
 
“Out of 1.25 billion people, half of us do not have access to electricity, something some other climes take for granted. And when you go to clean energy, it’s even worse; 800 million people across Africa do not have access to energy that is clean. But when you come back home to Nigeria, on record, more than 100,000 people die every year in this country, painfully so, mostly women and children, just trying to put food on the table. If you look at that data on WHO website, you will see that it says over 100,000 people die but we know it’s mostly women and children.
 
“One of the Renaissance’s ambitions is to enable energy security, to begin to shift away from that narrative. Even if we can’t change it 100 per cent, let us start. Our ambition is to bring cleaner energy into Nigeria, and I think that is a major ambition.”
 
Responding, Felix urged the firm to work as a team to achieve the production target of 2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day set by the President. He said: “As a local content, we look forward to seeing you people showing good examples. Be transparent in your dealings; your ways of doing things should show Nigerians that we can do it. What you expect from us is that NCDMB should provide an enabling environment for all the IOCs and you are one of the IOCs. So, as a Nigerian company, we have to provide you double enabling environment.
 
“You have no choice than to succeed, and it’s our responsibility to see that you succeed. You are going to create a lot of economic empowerment for families; you are going to employ a lot of Nigerians, and you are going to grow,” he said.