EINGICE2025 Day 2 - Panel Session

The second panel session — Day 2, EINGICE 2025 A highly engaging and insight-driven panel session moderated by Dr. Abiodun Ogunjobi, Group Chief Technical Officer, PanOcean Newcross Group & Immediate Past President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), brought together top industry minds to discuss on the conference sub-theme, “The Strategic Role of Africa’s Energy Banks and Governments towards Easier Procurement of Natural Gas Industry Equipment and Technologies” Panelists included: Engr. Bassey Rex - The Executive Officer and CEO, Africenergy and Infrastructure Limited Engr. ThankGod Egbe - CEO & Technical Director of Cyphercresent Limited Dr. Victor Ekpenyong - The MD/CEO of Kenyon International West Africa Company Limited (joining virtually from the United States) The session explored a critical question: How can Africa truly harness the African Energy Bank to industrialize its gas sector and overcome long-standing procurement and financing challenges? Key discussions centered on: The need for strong collaboration between governments and the African Energy Bank Streamlining procurement processes for gas infrastructure and equipment Addressing capital constraints and unlocking investment opportunities The urgency of domesticating technology to reduce capital flight Building bankable, environmentally viable, and community-supported projects Panelists emphasized that while the African Energy Bank presents a huge opportunity, it will not fund ideas blindly as projects must be bankable, sustainable, and risk-aware. A critical concern raised was Africa’s dependence on imported technology, which continues to drive capital flight and weaken local industry growth. The solution: Develop regional manufacturing hubs across Africa Encourage indigenous innovation and engineering capacity Strengthen regulatory frameworks and policy alignment across borders Another powerful insight came from the comparison with the FinTech ecosystem, where Nigerian startups like Flutterwave have achieved multi-billion dollar valuations. The question raised: Why can’t Africa replicate this success in the energy sector? The answer pointed to gaps in: Industry-specific funding structures Innovation support systems University–industry collaboration Long-term investment in energy startups Audience Question Highlight: A thought-provoking question was raised on how the African Energy Bank can support not just greenfield projects but also brownfield optimization—helping existing operators improve efficiency, increase throughput, and scale performance sustainably. The session concluded with a strong call to action: Africa must stop waiting for external development and begin to build, finance, and scale its own energy future through collaboration, innovation, and deliberate policy execution. Finally, a group photograph was taken with Dr. Emeka Okafor, the mastermind behind EINGICE and the conference planning committee alongside the panelists and speakers. #EINGICE2025 #EINGICE #EnergyLeadership #GasIndustry #NigeriaEnergy #LNG #EnergyInAfrica #OilAndGas #EnergyInnovation #InfrastructureDevelopment #EnergySecurity