Toxic Fuel: PUTTRU Recommends EU, ECOWAS Bilateral Partnership

With petrol (PMS) selling above N200 in major cities across Nigeria, amidst the long queues and scarcity, PUTTRU, Africa’s foremost online business facilitation platform that connects African energy companies to financiers from all over the world has advocated a partnership between European Union EU and ECOWAS as a major step towards mitigating the impact of substandard petroleum products in the sub region, especially Nigeria.

This is coming on the heels of a revelation by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, that the current scarcity in the country came as a result of adulterated petrol, imported into the country by cargoes shipped from Antwerp, Belgium. Weighing in on the matter, the chief executive officer of PUTTRU, Monica Maduekwe, advocated a bilateral partnership between EU and ECOWAS in terms of fuel quality, while Federal Government intensifies efforts at maximizing the refining capacity of the region.  She says, “the EU has taken an energy diplomacy position which includes the possibility of implementing a carbon border adjustment (CBA) mechanism. CBA is intended to discourage carbon leakages, importation of carbon intensive products into the EU as well as protect the competitiveness of EU industries operating within a carbon tax system. As the EU continues to adopt more stringent environmental standards in general, EU products that do not meet these standards will be exported to other markets, like we have seen with the high methanol fuel imported to Nigeria. This therefore poses an opportunity for ECOWAS and EU countries to collaborate to ensure that the EU does not become the exporter of substandard products to the developing world.”

While stressing PUTTRU’s commitment to bridging the energy gaps in the continent in a sustainable manner, Maduekwe also said that the company has kicked off its 5-year plan aimed at consolidating on the gains of its first year of operation in Africa’s energy sector, where it attracted a project pipeline of $3.8b. “PUTTRU received requests to mobilize finance for projects in oil and gas, renewables, construction and other sectors. About 75% of all project transactions received were from Nigeria, and projects from Nigeria, predominantly upstream oil and gas projects, accounted for 97% of the total value of projects ($3.8b) received last year. The recent bidding rounds implemented by the government of Nigeria in the petroleum sector could have contributed to the large number of oil and gas projects seeking capital. The company’s project pipeline is also an indication of the effectiveness of its marketing efforts, its partnerships with both public and private actors as well as its reputation for being a homegrown solution, representing the African interest. In the coming years, PUTTRU will continue to leverage these factors in growing its market share. On company valuation, the consensus is that PUTTRU has indeed satisfied the conditions to proceed to this next stage of growth, having proven its concept, acquired customers and built high profile partnerships”, she says.