Dangote Refinery, a privately-owned refinery in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has disclosed that it recruited almost 40,000 workers including expatriates from India and China to execute Africa’s largest refinery located in Lekki Free Zone.
The Dangote Refinery said to be the world’s largest single –train refinery has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
It was built at the cost of US$19 billion.
Giving the breakdown of the skilled work workforce recruited for the construction of the refinery, the company mentioned that it recruited 6,400 Indians, 3,250 Chinese and 30,000 Nigerians.
The company disclosed this in a statement issued in response to a media report suggesting that the company neglected youth from Nigeria and other African countries and recruited expatriates.
Dangote Group’s Chief Branding & Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina said the report was written with malicious intent, as it did not reflect the number of skilled Nigerians on site.
He also said Nigerians on the project demonstrated a high level of technical competence as many hidden skills were discovered among them.
Chiejina advised the public to discountenance such malicious and twisted reports, and instead, focus on the potential impact of the project on the overall economy and well-being of Nigerians.
He said Dangote Group would continue to be the leading light in employment generation.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The experts agreed that one of the strategic tasks facing every state in the modern world is the introduction of technologies that will ensure energy security, guarantee the sustainable development of various sectors of the economy, and increase the scientific and human resource potential of the country.
“Africa is on its way from being one fifth of the world’s population to one third. At the same time, if you look at electricity generation globally, last year, approximately 30 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity was generated on the planet, while Africa generated less than one. And in that sense, this disparity cannot be sustained for long,”said Alexey Likhachev.
“It is clear that states on the African continent will be actively engaged in building power generation capacity in the coming decades,” he added.
Mohamed Shaker El-Markabi, Minister for Electricity and Renewable Energy of Egypt, said that the development of nuclear energy in his country in co-operation with Rosatom has a positive impact on all spheres of life and work.
“We expect the number of jobs to increase ninefold. In addition, the country’s development strategy until 2035 states that by that time renewable energy sources should account for about 42% – nuclear power can help us with this.”
“Right now, only more than 70% of our population has access to electricity,” said Fidele Ndahayo, Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Atomic Energy Board.
According to the speaker, nuclear energy can remedy this situation. “Nuclear power is about reliability. Nuclear power is not just about money. All studies show: it leads to economic growth in all spheres of life.”
Doto Mashaka Biteko, Minister for Minerals of the United Republic of Tanzania said, “We already have a uranium programme, but we now want to look at new technologies from other countries. We need to add 10% to our GDP, and uranium is one of them. We want to breathe new life into our projects, and we invite everyone to do so. About 30% of our people live below the poverty line, we want to improve their quality of life. We have natural resources. God has given us everything we need, so we will achieve everything.”
Ibrahim Uwizeye, Minister of Hydraulics, Energy and Mining of the Republic of Burundi, said: “I visited the Leningrad NPP. I am impressed. We need energy self-sufficiency, and we will soon sign an agreement with Rosatom to achieve it.”
“Africa is the next stage in the development of global nuclear energy. All eyes will now be on what Russia is offering to its friends at this Forum. What is done today will be inherited by the next generations. If we do not address the energy challenge, Africa’s youth will be vulnerable. For the sake of Africa’s sustainable development, African countries should accept the proposals that come from Russia. Unfortunately, the world media is against Africa–Russia cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. It becomes even more important to properly inform the public. Africans are tired of living in darkness,” said Princess Mthombeni, Founder, Africa4Nuclear; Nuclear Communication and Technology Specialist of South Africa.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
He added that currently, there is no evidence that dependable variable Renewable Energy sources such as solar, wind or tidal electricity support industrialisation without first having adequate baseload power from coal, natural gas, hydro or nuclear.
Touching on energy transition, Mr. Ahiataku-Togobo observed that World Trade is now shifting towards green markets.
Given this, he urges industries in Africa to strategically position themselves to take advantage of the green energy resources potential in the continent to compete favourably in the green market.
He said, “This is why Bui Power Authority and Volta River Authority are focusing on the deployment of Renewable Energy to support local industries for them to compete in the green market.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com