Tanya Davidson
Port Harcourt — Renaissance Africa Energy Company, RAEC, says it has remitted more than N149 billion to 32 Host Community Development Trusts covering over 300 communities in the Niger Delta, as part of its strategy to link energy investment with regional economic development.
The company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tony Attah, disclosed this recently on the sidelines of the Niger Delta Economic and Investment Summit in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Attah said 473 projects and programmes had been completed through the trusts as of August 2026, covering areas including healthcare, education, energy access, enterprise development and rural infrastructure.
He added that the company’s approach was anchored on a shared-prosperity philosophy aimed at driving energy security, industrialisation, employment generation and economic opportunities across the region.
“The principle is simple: value created in the Niger Delta must be felt in the Niger Delta,” Attah said.
He said Renaissance had deliberately invested beyond its statutory obligations through initiatives including community health insurance schemes, educational scholarships, enterprise development programmes and rural infrastructure.
“Our Community Health Insurance Schemes widen access to care. Our educational scholarships prepare the engineers and entrepreneurs this region needs. Our enterprise development programmes back the small businesses that sustain any economy. None of it is required by law. All of it is deliberate,” he said.
Attah said the Niger Delta’s economic future could not depend solely on crude oil revenues, despite the region’s central role in Nigeria’s petroleum economy.
He identified gas, petrochemicals, agriculture, the blue economy and digital economy as areas capable of broadening the region’s economic base and converting its resource wealth into wider opportunities for its people.
“Investment, innovation, and industrial growth in the Niger Delta are not a regional preference, but a national necessity,” Attah said.
At a plenary session, Renaissance Vice President, Relations and Sustainable Development, Igo Weli, said economic growth and environmental stewardship could be pursued simultaneously.
“Nature and the need for energy are not necessarily in conflict. They can coexist and serve everyone well,” Weli said.
Weli highlighted the company’s environmental initiatives, including a 1,000-tree green belt at the University of Benin under its Campus GreenBelt initiative and an ambition to establish one million trees across Nigerian universities and secondary schools.
He also said Renaissance was exploring ways to repurpose disused borrow pits into fishponds and other economically viable assets before their eventual return to their owners.
However, Weli identified collective action as a major requirement for accelerating development in the Niger Delta.
“We have a lot of talk and plans, but not enough cohesive action. At Renaissance, we are about action. Plans alone will not create employment for the many trained young people across the Niger Delta. Action will,” he said.
He cited the company’s partnership with the Ijaw Youth Council to equip young people with employability skills and improve workforce readiness for energy-sector opportunities.
Weli also called for the establishment of a major industrial park in the Niger Delta within the next three years to stimulate investment, create jobs and support economic diversification.
Attah and Weli stressed the need for stronger collaboration among governments, regulators, businesses, development institutions, academia and host communities to drive sustainable economic growth in the region.
