Peter Uzoho
Oilserv Nigeria Limited, one of Africa’s largest oil and gas services companies, has called on International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Africa to optimize the opportunities offered to engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies.
He spoke at a session at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF’25), which just concluded in Algiers. Emeka Okwosa, CEO of Oilserv Group, Algeria, explained that the company’s ability to successfully execute complex and standard engineering contracts in Nigeria and other countries makes it a better competitor.
Mr. Okwosa, who was represented by the company’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Cephalus Waliri, said Oilserv had been working with Afreximbank for many years to drive major transformation, leveraging the benefits of both the skills and capabilities it provided.
According to him, “We have undertaken large-scale turnkey projects and are currently driving the largest gas project in Africa, and have also developed a flow station that dominates the region and can provide services and products across sectors of need through collaboration with Nigeria and NNPCL.”
The company has been active in the EPC sector for over 30 years and is recognized by industry players as having a wealth of capabilities and has been a major driver of oil and gas based construction and engineering since its inception and continues to expand its reach and applications across Nigeria.
The company also serves Benin, Ghana, Senegal and other Pan-African countries.
Okwuosa said: “As a leading provider of infrastructure for the oil and gas sector, we have everything needed to provide oil companies with high-quality services and timely deliverables to drive the projects they need.
“At this moment, the company’s approach is to expand its services to more companies as we have fully conquered the Nigerian industry and are ready to offer our services to more countries on the continent.
“All oil companies need our infrastructure for their development. We are ready to provide all our facilities as infrastructure to our customers.”
Waliri pointed out that financing is an important transaction that affects the project, indicating that local banks cannot provide much support, which is why local banks are reverting to multilaterals, most often Afreximbank.
“As an intra-African construction company, we conceived Nigeria’s most ambitious oil and gas pipeline project, called Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK), in 2014 and have successfully executed the project despite some unforeseen natural challenges, again under control.”
He noted that apart from the challenge of raising funds to complement Afreximbank’s support, there were issues of insecurity, ease of doing business and foreign exchange instability.
“All this contradicts our focus on a stable African economy. We have benefited from our cooperation with Afreximbank, which has allowed us to find a way into some activities that required large amounts of capital,” he added.
Gulf of Guinea Roundtable: Global CEOs, top diplomats, ministers and governments meet in New York
•Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari assumes the role of chairperson of the forum
Written by Louis Achi
As the 80th United Nations General Assembly kicks off in the United States, the world’s CEOs, top diplomats, ministers, governors and industry leaders will gather in New York to unlock more than $800 billion in energy, oil and gas, aviation, minerals and ocean opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea and coastal Africa’s projected $3 trillion economy.
The roundtable, themed “Unlocking energy, oil and gas, minerals, aviation and maritime opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea: A roadmap for peace and security,” will be held on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly and explore Africa’s most strategic region, the Gulf of Guinea.
The roundtable will be organized by New Diplomat, an Abuja-based policy think tank, in collaboration with the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), headquartered in Angola and with diplomatic coverage of around 19 African coastal states.
The premier event was chaired by Nigerian Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, academic diplomat, former Nigerian Foreign Minister, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Chief of Staff to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, and two-time President of the United Nations Security Council.
Ambassador Omah Djeba, a former Nigerian ambassador to Thailand who is also accredited by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in Bangkok, said the forum aims to tap the Gulf of Guinea’s more than $800 billion in energy, oil and gas, minerals, aviation and maritime investment opportunities.
He said: “The High-Level Forum will also focus on the rich economy of the African coast, estimated at $3 trillion, to leverage the unique benefits of its vast economic, investment, mineral, oil and gas, energy, aviation and maritime capabilities for the collective benefit of public and private sector stakeholders in the Gulf of Guinea region.”
Ambassador Omah Djeba, a two-time Delta State Information Commissioner, further disclosed that the high-level roundtable will bring together global public and private sector stakeholders, including heads of regional organizations, public and private sector leaders, heads of energy, oil and gas, maritime, minerals and aviation organizations, development finance experts and cross-sectoral regulators, with the overarching objective of harnessing the rich opportunities and potential in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
Similarly, Ambassador Mohamed Bello Abioye, former Ambassador to Pakistan and accreditor to the Maldives, who co-hosted the high-profile event, said the expected outcomes from the High-Level Roundtable include strengthening the economic development framework, improving investor confidence through clearer strategic institutions and governance frameworks, and expanding networks for B2B, G2G and P2P cooperation in the maritime, oil and offshore sectors. Gas, energy, aviation, minerals and infrastructure development.
Other objectives, according to Mr. Abioye, include opening up funding/investment opportunities to both public and private stakeholders in the Gulf of Guinea region, and facilitating the creation of the Gulf of Guinea Business Council (GGBC) as a strategic regional business network and nexus of public-private engagement in the GoG.
Other objectives include creating a unique forum to foster strategic G2G, B2B and P2P networks across international jurisdictions, with an eye on investment prospects, direct access to targeted business markets, and potential cross-sector collaborations, according to a program brochure obtained by THISDAY.
Additional goals include the need to unlock more than $800 billion of energy, oil and gas, infrastructure and maritime business opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea, and the outlined outlook for a $3 trillion African coastal economy.
The strategic benefits of the one-day event include promoting the blue economy, blue diplomacy and institutional positioning within the evolving intra-African business ecosystem, as well as providing opportunities for stakeholders in the AfCFTA and structured finance frameworks for large-scale projects in the energy, oil and gas, aviation, minerals and maritime sectors.
Other key benefits include facilitating mechanisms to strengthen cooperation between the 19 Gulf of Guinea coastal countries and a wide range of 38 African coastal countries, and mobilizing investment in maritime, oil and gas, energy, aviation and mineral projects across the GoG region.
Other initiatives include supporting the GGC as a regional coordination hub, introducing public-private cooperation models in line with AFCFTA Agenda 2063 and SDG 14 (Life Underwater), and promoting technology partnerships in logistics, air transport, and ocean development.
