FG, Partner Invest $50mn In New Clean Energy Technology JV

The federal government of Nigeria through the  Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and Vitol, an international energy and commodities company, has established a joint venture company known as Carbon Vista with a $50 million initial commitment.

According to the partners, the company will invest in climate-smart agriculture, green industrial technologies, waste management, etc.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said that Africa can become the first truly green civilization because it has the lowest carbon footprint and a young and vibrant population capable of effectively deploying green manufacturing on a large scale.

Osinbajo made the remarks on Tuesday in Abuja during the official signing ceremony of the Carbon Vista Agreement, an initiative aimed at assisting Nigeria in meeting its net-zero targets through investments in carbon avoidance and removal projects.

“Africa can become the first truly green civilization – the first civilization on earth to use renewable fuel for purposes of a transformative economic journey.”

“If we are the least emitters and able to use green energy effectively, we are able to use the young population that we have, we are able to effectively deploy green manufacturing on a scale that would be required to become the global green factory and power of the world, we can indeed do something revolutionary and different.

“This is why what we are seeing today, this sort of collaboration between NSIA and Vitol is an important one because the pipeline of projects they are talking about are the sorts of projects that will make us a truly green economy and can cause us to realize that dream we are talking about,” the VP added.

Osinbajo went on to say that Africa’s ambitions are inextricably linked to the discussion of climate justice in the energy transition debate, emphasizing that “the transition must be fair, and fossil fuel is still required for several purposes, but we must also agree that there is a new way by which Nigeria and Africa can benefit immensely from what is coming to us.”

Continuing, the VP commended the partnership between NSIA, Vitol and other partners, noting that “this sort of collaboration is only the beginning, we have to do a lot more and demonstrate that we are capable of being not just a victim in the climate change story, but an important catalyst and innovator for making our world greener and introducing to our own people, a prosperous economy based on the green initiatives that we have.”

He expressed hope that the Carbon Vista Fund will be bigger adding that more investments are expected from other stakeholders. According to him, “this is such an incredible opportunity and we must not leave it to just be a $50 million fund.”