\n According to him, the cost is not merely financial but structural, reflecting missed opportunities for value creation, job generation, and economic transformation across the continent.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe core idea is this: if Africa can retain a proportion of that spending within the continent through localised value addition, infrastructure development, and industrial participation, the economic impact would be transformative,\u201d Lokpobiri said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Retaining hydrocarbon value within Africa, he said, would unlock fiscal space to invest in sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, security, and technology.\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Lokpobiri also used the platform to renew calls for support for the proposed African Energy Bank, which is expected to be headquartered in Nigeria. He warned that failure to mobilise sufficient financing for Africa\u2019s energy needs would worsen poverty levels as the continent\u2019s population continues to grow.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf we do not mobilise the appropriate resources to solve the energy problems in Africa, the misery will increase as population grows,\u201d he said, adding that Nigeria, as host country, had fulfilled its obligations toward establishing the bank.\n <\/p>\n