Transcorp President/Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Owen Omogiafo, has urged urgent action to expand Africa’s energy supply, stressing that energy access is fundamental to the continent’s economic growth and inclusion in the global sustainability drive.
Speaking at the 9th Edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII9) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during a high-level plenary session themed “Board of Changemakers: The Energy Trilemma,” Dr Omogiafo said that while global conversations centre on energy transition, Africa’s priority must remain access and affordability.
“What we are looking at is not so much about whether we are transiting; it is creating greater access to energy for all. The gap is huge, and we all need to be conscious of it in energy conversations,” she said.
Dr Omogiafo lamented that 70 to 80 per cent of people without electricity globally live in Africa, describing it as a pressing development challenge that fuels migration and limits industrialisation.
“People who are migrating are not doing so because they hate their homes or families, but because they feel they have to,” she explained.
Addressing affordability concerns, the Transcorp boss noted that renewable energy is not yet cheaper in Nigeria except for hydro sources, which constitute only 12 per cent of the national grid supply. The rest, she said, comes mainly from fossil and gas-fired power plants.
She called for a pragmatic and inclusive energy strategy for Africa that leverages both on-grid and off-grid technologies, including mini-grid solutions, to accelerate access and support the continent’s growing youth population.
“It is not either-or; we do need to expand access, leveraging technologies to ensure that the continent that has the largest number of young people in the world is included in energy solutions, with industrialisation at the core of it,” she said.
Dr Omogiafo’s remarks came as global energy leaders from Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Asia discussed maintaining energy security amid the accelerating AI revolution and the transition to a sustainable energy future.
Her advocacy at the global forum underscores Transcorp Plc’s leadership role in Africa’s energy transformation and its unwavering commitment to “Improving Lives and Transforming Africa” through strategic, sustainable investments.
The Guardian reports that no fewer than four Nigerian business leaders, including Omogiafo, are participating in the ongoing Future Investment Initiative (FII9), popularly known as Davos in the Desert.
World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Heirs Holdings Chairman Tony Elumelu, Global Infrastructure Partners Founder Adebayo Ogunlesi, as well as Omogiafo are among the key speakers at the four-day global investment summit, which runs from October 27 to 30 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre.
Now in its ninth edition, the Future Investment Initiative, often referred to as Davos in the Desert, is Saudi Arabia’s flagship investment forum, organised by the FII Institute and supported by the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The 2025 conference, themed “The Key to Prosperity: Unlocking New Frontiers of Growth,” has drawn over 150 global business leaders, 20 heads of state, and senior executives from international corporations to Saudi Arabia.
The conference focuses on driving investments into technology, infrastructure, and innovation, as Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its economy away from oil. It also highlights the kingdom’s multi-billion-dollar gigaprojects such as NEOM, a futuristic city designed to anchor its Vision 2030 economic transformation agenda.
