Dr. Muhammad Shehu, CEO of Amplus VG Energy, has highlighted the Diaspora community’s growing interest in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. He mentioned that Nigerians in the diaspora are looking to collaborate with local engineers and marginal field operators.
Speaking in an interview with News Central TV at the 7th Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit (NDIS), Shehu outlined the diaspora’s objective of directing global expertise and investment into Nigeria’s energy industry, particularly through the development of local talent and the infusion of capital into important resources.
“Some of us came back home because of this diaspora investment as well. I was here last week, we did an exhibition and we’ve seen a lot of gaps within Nigerian oil and gas and this is what we’re trying to correct within Nigeria now.
“As a diaspora we are trying to see how we can utilise a lot of the knowledge we’ve gained abroad and then engage engineers within Nigeria, train and also invest.
“We invest in the oil and gas, currently we’re working with marginal field operators in Nigeria and some asset producing fields where we’re looking at investing millions of dollars into the asset. So definitely the investment summit is something to really look into.”
Also, Eseoghene Eferemeo, an AI innovator/pitcher at the event, called for increased diaspora investment in youth-driven projects, expressing hope that recent initiatives will encourage more targeted and sustained support for emerging innovators.
“Right now, as I’m standing here, I embody the Nigerian youth. I feel like there are not enough initiatives set up to have people invest in the youth projects and so many projects out there. And even the initiatives that are being set up, how many of them follow up on the people that they think that they are going to invest in?
“Some investors say they are going to invest and then they wander off. So now that Honorable Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has set up this initiative, I’m so happy because the diaspora are more serious-minded Nigerians. It is not easy to leave your country and still have an attachment to it, but they still come back.
“So I feel they do have a role to play because the diaspora, they earn a lot there and they’ve seen Nigeria and want to develop Nigeria as well. So to develop Nigeria, they have to start investing not in projects that are already existing, but in projects that are funded, projects that are started by the youth. New innovative solutions.”