
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, has explained why the company is investing a whooping sum of $6 billion in energy projects in Angola over Nigeria.
Pouyanne, who spoke with panellists of the Africa CEO in Kigali, Rwanda, said the inconsistency in policymaking decisions led to the diversion of the project from Nigeria to Angola, a country with a more stable policy framework.
“Nigeria loves to open topics without closing them. You love to debate. There is always a new legislature in Nigeria about a new petroleum law. When you have such permanent debates, it’s difficult for investors looking for long-term structure to know what direction to go.
“In reality, the Niger Delta is the most prolific part of West Africa. But if you look at what happened, because of these debates, there has not been a single exploration in Nigeria for 12 years.
“It’s important to have a debate and then settle it and put a framework on the table that investors can trust.
“We have countries that have perfectly integrated policies like Angola. So, we go to Angola and announced a very large $6 billion projects in the beginning of the week because there their framework is stable. So we know where we go,” Pouyanne said.
According to him, investors need the guarantee that their investments are secured and not exposed to violence and demolition.
“What are the challenges? Security comes first. For a CEO like me, security of my people is of utmost important. Fortunately, we have customs in the Niger Delta to deal with it.
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