Vitol in Joint Venture with Nigeria SWF
Posted on 04/05/2023
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority is Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund. It has reached a joint venture agreement with Swiss energy company Vitol to invest in “carbon avoidance.” US$ 50 million has been committed so far with the hope of attracting other investors. Household electrification in Africa is the first project to be tackled. They are seeking to attain UN Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goals intended to be achieved by the year 2030 include: No more poverty, affordable clean energy, peace and justice, gender equality, and more than a dozen others often related to climate change plans. Aminu Umar-Sadiq is CEO of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority. His comments were that Nigeria needed “A radical rethink of our energy consumption mix from the micro-level.” Though Nigeria currently uses coal and gas, it has set net-zero targets for carbon emissions.
Vitol
Vitol announced record profits of US$ 15 billion in 2022. It had been in hot water due to trading Russian oil in the face of western sanctions, which it did legally by purchasing from Turkey. A significant share of the Turkish oil was likely sourced from Russia. Oleg Ustenko, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was vocal in his condemnation of western oil companies who used the end-around to profit and allow Russia to prosper throughout the sanctions.