23 November 2011, Sweetcrude, ABUJA – The US has expressed willingness to partner with Nigeria in developing its energy sector in line with world’s best practices.
Ms Cynthia Akuetteh, the US Director of the Office of Europe, Middle East and Africa in the State’s Department Bureau of Energy Resources, said this on Tuesday in Abuja, in an interview.
Akuetteh, who commended the Nigerian government’s power sector reform agenda, said the US was ready to help in the efficient implementation of the programme.
She said her bureau was committed to bringing in investors to Africa, especially Nigeria, because of the enormous human and natural resources in the country.
“There is not just enough public financing for the sector, so we just have to look for a way to engage the private sector in developing the industry,” she said.
Akuetteh, however, urged the government to show more commitment to good governance and create the enabling environment for investment in the country.
She said the US was also exploring ways to develop Nigeria’s renewable energy potential such as wind, rain and solar energy to compliment the oil and gas reserves.
The director stressed the importance of an efficient energy system to national security, noting that even in the US, energy was very strategic to the government’s national security.
She said her bureau would work closely with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to achieve its objectives.
