By Gilbert Boyefio
The need for Africa to find locally tailored solutions for the continents many challenges was the focus at the just concluded second edition of the Sub Saharan Africa Upstream Oil and Gas Summit and Exhibition in Accra, Ghana.
The conference which was on the tagged, “Unlocking potentials in Sub Sahara Africa oil and gas” brought together key industry players from across Africa and beyond.
“Until Africa domesticates strategies that have been adopted abroad in the Americas and Europe to dominate Africa, till we domesticate these ideas back home we will be subjecting ourselves to the whims and caprices of the multi nationals.
We all know what Wall Street is. Wall Street is a major shareholder in all the big companies in the world. If Wall Street crashes today a lot of economies all over the world, especially in Africa, are going to crush. We do not have to allow that to happen. We need to have shock absorbers and that is why I came up with the BOGA theory”, said Dr. Anthony F Dowell Mirin, Executive Director, Deeptechnical International.
BOGA stands for Bank for Oil and Gas Africa.
The BOGA concept is to open up bespoke globally acceptable strategy for Sub-Sahara African Oil and Gas Project Financing Industry, with aims in support the building of a huge Oil and Gas Bank Financial Institution, as BOGA (Bank of Oil and Gas Africa) for handling Oil and Gas based Infrastructures, Energy, Technology and base Project Financing in Sub-Sahara Africa. The BOGA initiative strategy and framework is tailored to gainer support from prospective African energy producing countries and others. The Strategy aims at also enumerating the anathema of financial success of the Asian Giants, the Middle East Giant, the IMF and the OECD Country Financial Strategy, as against the Sub Sahara Africa Oil and Gas Financial Prowess.
The BOGA Strategy and Framework is engineered to stimulating Bespoke Single-Window Financial and Investment Framework Sustainability, and Regional Dominance.
The BOGA Financial Theory and the African Oil and Gas Developing Nations, currently needs a clinical inside out solution in developing and financing key and relevant onshore, offshore and Deep offshore energy Infrastructures, using inside out financing from collation of African investing nations and investing corporate organizations. The BOGA Bank theory as strategy is conceived to represent the first oil and bank Single-Window Investment Bank for multilateral energy development in 21st century financial world.
The Strategy aims at developing frameworks for a participatory “Sub-Sahara African Country” participating process, for founding members. It is also focused to enumerating the framework and strategy implementation for Africa.
“The papers discuss the strategy for Oil and Gas producing nations in Africa participatory structure and lean, with a small efficient management team and highly skilled management system. The paper marries the Asian AIIB (Asian International Investment Bank) frameworks, strategy, structure and major benefit to the Asian country and global industrialist nations.
The BOGA Theory for Africa strategy is tailored to be a modern knowledge-based institution by framework, focusing on developing infrastructure, easing financial constraints, increasing and other productive energy sectors in Africa including power, transportation and telecommunications, and cross country logistics, within Sub-Sahara Africa, etc,” Mr. Mirin enumerated.
Critically, the BOGA strategy opens up a global door for Africa partnership, with other developed nations in areas of Oil and Gas, Energy, Power, and Cross Country Logistics Infrastructure development. In addition to tradition to other financial source for Africa countries the BOGA Investment Bank creates a financing techniques, for fund sourcing, infrastructure project base implementation, PPP (Public Private Partnership) and NTNP (Nation to Nation Partnership) through new financial structuring offers from the BOGA Investment Banking which allows and ensures sufficient and efficient funding for oil and gas projects.
According to Mr. Mirin, “If Ghana wants to build a refinery, it can approach Nigeria to give it the needed qualified human resource and pay Nigeria for its services in crude or cash.
You and I know that the cost for Nigeria’s human resource and that of a foreign human resource from the UK or other European Country are not going to be the same.
Africa has a lot of seasoned and well qualified craftsmen. We need to come together as a continent to patronize each other’s products and services.
Whether we like it or not, truth be told, it is high time we stop being an appendage to our colonial fathers. We have long gone beyond that period of colonialism. Where we are now is the level we need to display what we have. We have all the resources to succeed on our own. The BOGA concept is going to support a lot of infrastructure growth in Africa. It is going to enable so many companies in Africa to grow fast because the lending rate is going to be at a single digit.”
He however acknowledges that the success of the BOGA theory largely depend on the buy in of African leaders and therefore challenged them to “Stand up and do their job because it is not a luxury to be a leader.”
On his part, Adesola Adebawo, Maneger-Communications Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Nigeria-Mid Africa Strategic Business Unit, indicated that “Africa is one of the richest continents in the world with vast potential mineral deposit. The opportunities to exploit these minerals exist and therefore it is time for Africa to wake to its full potential.
We should not only exploit these minerals and let others take it away as raw material but we should add value to these resources and then let the rest buy from us value added products rather than just allow our resources to be taken away and we buy it back in expensive value from those who obtained it cheaply from us.”
He pointed out that there are best practices as to how to efficiently manage ones resources. “There are countries that have exploited their resources and have made mistakes and successes that the rest of Sub Sahara Africa can learn from.
From the presentations we have received from this conference it is obvious that we do not have to make the same mistakes before we learn from it.
Sharing Chevrons experience in building strong partnership with the communities in which they operate at the conference, Mr. Adebawo noted that “Chevron is a conscientious busy organization which means that we are a company that seeks to be admired for our people partnership and performance. What we have presented in this conference is the product of that value. We work with people and our concern for the people around our areas of operations makes us work with them as partners rather than beneficiaries of our goodwill.
We gain more in collaboration than in competition. Collaboration for development will always deliver value to all parties and every segment of stakeholders, as against competition. When we competes we talk passes each other but when we collaborate we engage.”
Speaking on the theme “Preparing for the Challenges of changing times”, His Royal Majesty Oba Michael Adedotun Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland, noted that the summit provides a unique platform for African oil and gas key decision makers to discuss recent developments, opportunities, challenges and embrace innovative solutions, fresh ideas and best in class strategies to improve on overall business performance and investment.
“This year, we are focusing on the emerging issues, recent development affecting the oil and gas sector and the way forward, especially with the current pricing level of crude in the international market. Efforts have been made to draw speakers from different parts of Africa to share their peculiar experiences.
We cannot afford to lose to the current challenges facing the oil and gas sector. We have to be prepared for better tomorrow as we believe the future is bright for all stakeholders,” he observed.
Hilary Joseph Akpan, General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) was full of praise for the organizers of the conference.
“I am very impressed that we can do this locally at our level. We have been attending other events organized by expatriates for some time now. I am very impressed and look forward to the next event.
Africa has a great potential to diversify it natural resources, but unfortunately the continent over focuses on crude oil; especially in this dwindling oil prices. If you stake your revenue base on just oil you will be disappointed. So it is very good that Africa look at other options.
This conference focused on integration, resource sharing, cost management and efficiency in operations. This conference is very relevant especially during this time of falling crude oil prices.
We need to focus more on gas because as a continent we need more gas to power our industries to create jobs. Gas should be at the forefront of our development drive. Over the years Africa has not done well with crude oil. We only sell it as a commodity. It is about time we start adding value to our crude to generate more revenue to develop our continent.”
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