Oil will play a vital role in empowering Africa for the next two decades – ARDA

Executive Secretary of the African Refiners and Distributors Association, Anibor Kragha, has indicated that oil will play a vital role in empowering Africa for the next two decades.

He said nations in Africa will reap the potentials in the petroleum downstream sector following the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“Oil will definitely play a vital role in empowering Africa in the next two decades. In fact, when you look at the energy mix for Africa, you will realize that oil will still be about 60% of the primary energy mix for Africa for the next two decade and ARDA is committed to leading Africa’s energy transition story over that period," he stated.

Mr Anibor Kragha indicated that the AfCFTA will unlock the potential for Africa to chart a path together towards a self-sufficiency continent of refined petroleum products.

“ARDA is excited about the potential of AfCFTA to bring and enable Africa’s energy security, the harmonization of price in tariffs, increase cooperation across borders and increase inter-regional trade will undoubtedly unlock the potential for Africa to truly start to focus on self-sufficiency of African Petroleum products”.

He said this at this year’s virtual Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhipCon 2021) organised by the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) dubbed, "Positioning Africa’s Petroleum Downstream for AfCFTA" held on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.

According to him, the Association is currently working with the African Union Commission on harmonizing clean fuel specification. He added that it working further to secure funding to upgrade refineries and infrastructure in order to produce in large quantities and export across the continent.

He stressed that the Association has pledged to start a sustainable finance plan for Africa that will help convert brown products into green products as part of helping achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal on a cleaner and green environment.

The African Refiners & Distributors Association (ARDA) is the only pan-African organization for the African downstream oil sector. It was established on March 23, 2006, in Cape Town, South Africa and the ARDA Operational Headquarters is in Abidjan, Côte d ’Ivoire.

The ARDA structure comprises an Executive Committee (led by the ARDA President), a General Assembly and several Work Groups that serve as forums for sharing global best practices amongst its members and industry stakeholders.

The ARDA Members, Executive Committee and Work Groups reflect the geographic and cultural diversity of the African continent as well as all players in all parts of the Downstream oil sector across Africa.