The appetite for improving access to capital for indigenous oil and gas contractors, strengthening the capacity of Nigerian businesses to execute critical energy projects and contribute to the country’s production ambitions, has seen the Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited (‘Renaissance’) go into a strategic financing partnership with Sterling Bank Limited.

The partnership, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), brings Sterling Bank into the renewed Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme (RVFS), a structured financing programme designed to address one of the longstanding challenges confronting indigenous service providers in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry: access to timely and affordable funding for contract execution.

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The expanded programme brings together 13 financial institutions with combined financing commitments of $4.1 billion and ₦435 billion, creating a substantial pool of capital to support eligible contractors delivering projects for Renaissance, operator of the former Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) joint venture assets.

Speaking on its participation, Dele Faseemo, Group Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking at Sterling Bank, described the partnership as an important opportunity to connect financial capacity with productive enterprise in one of Nigeria’s most strategically important sectors.

“At Sterling Bank, we believe financing should enable capable businesses to deliver, grow and compete. Our participation in the Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme reflects that conviction. By providing structured funding to qualified contractors, we are supporting the businesses that keep the energy value chain moving, strengthening Nigerian content participation and contributing to the broader objective of increasing the country’s productive capacity,” Faseemo said.

For many indigenous contractors, securing a major contract represents only the first step towards business growth. The ability to mobilise equipment, procure materials, retain skilled personnel and meet demanding project timelines often depends on access to adequate working capital. Financing constraints can therefore limit the capacity of otherwise qualified businesses to execute contracts, scale their operations and participate more meaningfully in the energy value chain.

Through the RVFS, participating financial institutions will provide structured financing to eligible contractors against confirmed contracts awarded by Renaissance, subject to applicable credit assessment and approval processes. The arrangement is intended to ease funding pressures, improve project execution and strengthen the financial capacity of indigenous service providers.

Tony Attah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, highlighted the importance of the financing arrangement to the company’s growth ambitions.

“What we’ve been able to achieve as Renaissance is to go into that partnership with these incredible 13 banks who have come up to support this vendor scheme at over $4 billion and over ₦435 billion funds available for the vendors to be able to support us in our growth agenda,” Attah said.

He further emphasised the financial advantage the scheme offers participating contractors, noting that, “The interest rate that the banks are offering to the contractors is very competitive, and it is certainly better than the vendors going out to the respective banks on their own.”

The Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme builds on a contractor financing programme established in 2010, which has evolved over the years to support local service providers executing projects across the oil and gas value chain. Its latest expansion comes as Renaissance pursues an ambitious growth strategy, including its aspiration to achieve production of one million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030.

Delivering on this ambition will require sustained investment not only in upstream production assets but also in the network of engineering firms, equipment suppliers, logistics providers, technical specialists and other indigenous businesses whose services are essential to operational performance.

With an established presence in corporate banking and energy sector financing, Sterling Bank continues to support businesses operating across critical segments of the Nigerian economy through tailored financial solutions, strategic partnerships and sector-specific expertise.

The collaboration reinforces the Bank’s commitment to supporting indigenous enterprise development, strengthening local capacity and financing productive economic activity, while contributing to efforts to improve Nigeria’s energy security and long-term industrial competitiveness.

The Niger Delta Youths are primed to assume national responsibilities in critical areas of the economy by protecting vital oil and gas assets in the region.

The United Niger Delta Congress (UNDC) gave the assurance at a media briefing in Abuja, over the weekend, adding that the youths of Niger Delta were ready to work with the federal government in this regard.

The group maintained that youths in the region have shown that such responsibilities, including the security of pipelines, can be entrusted to them.

Speaking at the news conference, Niger Delta Youth activist, Mallam Julius Obi, said the Niger Delta is safer while the nation’s crude is flowing based on the fact that youths in the region are doing the job.

He said that being a youth should not be a disqualification from strategic national assignments but when matched with preparation and character, a national asset.

“We are calling on the federal government to note that Nigeria is full of young men and women who are prepared, disciplined and ready to carry out national responsibilities.

“We urge the federal government to keep opening the doors of strategic national service to young Nigerians who have earned trust the only way it can be earned, by delivery,” Obi said.

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The group commended President Bola Tinubu for sustaining the security reforms in the oil and gas industry and the the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for coordinating the protection of the nation’s pipelines, and the management of NNPCL for providing the enabling environment.

Joseph Ambakederimo, convener of the South-South Reawakening Group, has questioned the accountability of Nigeria’s crude oil forward sales, demanding clarification on the volume of crude lifted, outstanding balances and the use of upfront payments.

Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Sunday, Ambakederimo expressed concern over the monitoring of crude oil transactions, questioning who was responsible for tracking deliveries and providing feedback on the arrangements.

“We don’t even know who is monitoring and giving us the feedback of the barrels of crude that have been lifted on forward sales basis,” he said.

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He challenged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to provide details of the transactions, including the quantity of crude already lifted, the outstanding balance and whether the agreed deliveries had been completed.

“Today, can we get this from NNPC? How much have they lifted? What is the balance remaining? Have they been completed?” he asked.

Ambakederimo also questioned how the money collected upfront under the arrangements had been spent, demanding an explanation of its use.

“That money that was collected upfront, what was the use of the money? Can you justify it?” he asked.

He argued that Nigeria should make better use of its natural resources to accelerate infrastructure development and improve living conditions.

Citing land reclamation projects in the United Arab Emirates, Ambakederimo said Nigeria could explore similar opportunities to create additional land for residential and other developments.

He recalled seeing a signpost while travelling from Dubai to Abu Dhabi describing a project to reclaim land from the sea, using the example to highlight the development possibilities he believes Nigeria could explore.

The South-South Reawakening Group convener also argued that Nigeria could reclaim land in suitable areas, provided environmental concerns were properly managed.

He called for the country to translate its natural resource wealth into infrastructure and improved living conditions, stressing the need for greater accountability in crude oil transactions.