By Chesa Chesa
The Chief Executive of Shell Plc, Mr Wael Sawan, has praised President Bola Tinubu’s leadership for creating a healthy climate for investments to thrive and restoring investor confidence.
At a meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Mr Sawan said Shell is deepening and expanding its investments in Nigeria, and the company is ready, alongside its partners, to invest an additional $20 billion, primarily because of the robust and bold leadership of the President.
He emphasised that Nigeria, under the Tinubu administration, is one of the countries attracting significant investment from global oil companies.
Highlighting Shell’s recent investments, such as $5 billion in Bonga North, $2 billion in HI, and the gas project to NLNG, Sawan stated that the corporation is committed to long-term investments in the country, underscoring the stable economic environment.
“We have really been in a space where we are very keen to invest in Nigeria. But I would say this has not always been the case. Your leadership and your vision have created an investment climate over the last few years that, I will be very honest with you, propelled us to invest, in particular, also as we compare to other investments around the world,” he said.
“Stability in today’s environment will honestly have a premium for corporates because we are investing not for one administration or five or 10 years, we want to invest for 20, 30, 40 years and in the case of Nigeria, for many, many decades.”
Speaking on the expansion of Shell’s investments in Nigeria, Mr Sawan said the corporation has also deepened its interest in Block OML 118, the Bonga Block.
“Total Energies was selling, so we bought it because we want to deepen further. But that, we think, is not enough. We think there is more to invest here, and we understand the vision that you have for the country. And so we are indeed working on a project, Bonga Southwest, that could, if we reach an FID stage, see us, with our partners, invest around $20 billion in foreign direct investment, half of which will be capital. The other half will be the operating expenses and the like that will come into the country,” he said.
