China National Petroleum Corporation Economic and Technological Research Institute (CNPC ETRI) and Africa Policy Institute (API) held an energy collaboration conference to promote development of the African oil and gas industry in the country.
The conference brought together stakeholders from the energy sector experts from Africa and China to deliberate on the economic potential of the Africa’s energy market.
Amb. Johnson Weru from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said energy is at the heart of any economic transformation and that access to modern energy, especially electricity has attracted global concern in recent years which partly reflects its critical importance to the pillars of sustainable development.
“Access to modern energy has attracted global concern in the recent years, reflecting its importance to all three pillars of sustainable development- economic, social and environmental,” he said.
“In April 2019, the official Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) report highlighted that energy investments will reach 27 trillion dollars by 2050, with seven trillion dollars alone going to power grid construction and the rest distributed across other energy sectors including oil and gas, geothermal and nuclear, and over 200 million jobs created in the process,” said Weru.
Speaking at the BRI conference, China Ambassador to Kenya Wu Peng said that in the BRI there are 85 Chinese economic cooperation zones and over 200 million jobs.
“China has zero tolerance towards corruption. Both Kenya and the Chinese government will discipline anyone who breaks this rule,” he added.
The BRI will deepen international cooperation and build partnerships that will enhance Africa’s economic development in the new global energy landscape, build and expand a positive influence of CNPC in Africa and capitalize on local market knowledge through cooperation between CNPC and API.
The cooperation is set out to create new land and sea routes to ensure energy investments and market expansions.
By KNA Team
