The CEO of Seplat Energy, Roger Brown, has called for repositioning of the energy industry in Africa for the future.

He noted that Africa  needs to become much more efficient with its energy resources, adding that countries within the continent have to understand the critical role energy has to play in the future of the continent.

Brown stated this at the 41st Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE)  Conference w in Lagos, while speaking on “Repositioning the Oil & Gas Industry for Future Energy Dynamics”.

He said: “Repositioning the oil and gas sector for the future requires the understanding of certain fundamentals including accepting the fact that the sector will have a key role to play well into the future – particularly in Africa; that the energy industry needs to become much more efficient with its resources; and that the integration of the energy value chain is essential.

“Also, that a functioning energy backbone (Base load) is a barrier to wide-scale renewable energy. In all these, we must come to terms with the fact that Development and Environment must not become competing objectives.”

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about 600 million people in Africa do not have access to electricity, while about 900 million lack access to clean cooking fuel