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Shift to cleaner fossil fuels and natural gas identified as critical for the energy agenda in Africa – Nyambe

Shift to cleaner fossil fuels and natural gas identified as critical for the energy agenda in Africa – Nyambe

The Managing Director of Shakwa Nyambe & CO Inc, Shakwa Nyambe recently highlighted that a shift to cleaner fossil fuels and natural gas has been identified as critical for the energy agenda in Africa to develop in a sustainable manner.

Nyambe who was recently appointed as Director to the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) Board and Director for the association’s Regional African Chapter, said that a different mindset must be adopted by both the energy industry and political figures in light of the switch to cleaner energy coupled with the seismic shock of COVID-19 on the global petroleum industry.

“In my my new role with APIN I will be establishing a Regional Executive Committee to manage chapter events, along with organising training and workshops to support the sector in Africa,” he added, pledging to make APIN more relevant and help it grow to an internationally recognised energy association. “I will also contribute by helping to increase APIN’s membership in Africa to ensure maximum benefits to African entities, which will involve the engagement of other stakeholders across the energy sector to collaborate with APIN,” he explained.

Nyambe said he has always desired to ensure Africa’s energy agenda is not left behind and that the continent benefited from APIN’s support to develop the continent’s energy sector. “APIN has a sustainable approach and vision towards the international energy community and produces model contracts that are widely accepted and used in the international energy industry and I will use this opportunity to encourage African energy companies, governments and consultants to get involved in drafting and reviewing these model agreements so their wishes and concerns are catered for,” he emphasised.

He said as Africans, we can not afford to be spectators any more and should actively participate in this international bodies to influence decisions. Nyambe drew direct links between the issues he identified in the African energy industry and the stalled Kudu Gas Field in Namibia, which is estimated to contain up to 1.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves yet beset by the failure of the original business model, which is an example of how Namibia could reduce its reliance on electricity imports from neighbouring countries.

Nyambe warned of the costs of direct energy transition to developing countries, instead of pressing for an energy progression approach where the major strides taken by companies such as Nampower are embraced as a bridge towards cleaner energy.

Nyambe began his career in 2006 as a Prosecutor and has always been motivated to establish his own law firm by his desire to develop a fresh model of doing business within the legal sector in Namibia and Africa by focusing on the energy, natural resources, commercial and infrastructure sectors.

“I wanted to play a role in the development of these sectors in Africa from a legal and business advisory perspective and I believe as Africans we should be involved in the entire value chain of our mineral resources, whether as consultants, lawyers or as partners in business undertaking and start a law firm that incorporates both legal and business advisory aspects so as to offer full services to commercial clients,” he informed.

According to Nyambe these sectors were previously forced to acquire legal services from outside Africa due to the shortage of required skills across the continent. He therefore travelled to the United Kingdom to specialise in energy and natural resources law to enable him to service these sectors in Africa.

 


 

About The Author

Mandisa Rasmeni

Mandisa Rasmeni has worked as reporter at the Economist for the past five years, first on the entertainment beat but now focussing more on community, social and health reporting. She is a born writer and she believes education is the greatest equalizer. She received her degree in Journalism at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in June 2021. . She is the epitome of perseverance, having started as the newspaper's receptionist in 2013.