WASHINGTON, DC—On Friday, December 16, the U.S. Nigeria Council for Food Security, Trade, and Investment (USNC) convened a breakfast highlighting regional cooperation and the future of African energy, with a particular focus on the role of Nigeria and Morocco. The event was held on the margins of the second United States-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington and was attended by executives of leading companies from the United States, Nigeria, and Morocco, entrepreneurs and investors from all three countries, and key officials representing the three governments.
The USNC was pleased to host three esteemed featured speakers at the event: Nigeria’s Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, His Excellency Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, the President and Chairman of the African Export-Import Bank, His Excellency Professor Benedict Oramah, and the Director General of Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Her Excellency Amina Benkhadra.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria and USNC Chairman Terence McCulley welcomed guests to the breakfast and noted the significant investment that Nigeria and Morocco are making in a pipeline that has the potential to carry 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Lagos to Tangier. Subsequently, Ms. Benkhadra spoke about her office’s efforts to deepen energy cooperation between the two countries, while the Honourable Minister discussed the strides Nigeria has made in recent years to insulate its energy industry against internal and external shocks, as well as to foster deeper regional and global trade ties in the sector. Finally, Prof. Oramah spoke on Afreximbank’s financing initiatives across the continent that are designed to unlock the benefits of important bilateral agreements (such as the pipeline) to create broader regional knock-on effects.
USNC Senior Advisor Aubrey Hruby then moderated a discussion that included Ithmar Capital CEO Obaid Amrane, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Managing Director Aminu Umar-Sadiq, Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State Dilawar Syed, Nigerian Bank of Industry CEO Olukayode Pitan, among many other leaders from a wide range of sectors in both countries.
The USNC was excited to present this unique event to close out a busy week in Washington and was thrilled with the interest and engagement registered from business leaders in all three markets. The value of this conversation was evident throughout the event, and we were particularly pleased to welcome many USNC members, including John Coumantaros, Chairman of Flour Mills of Nigeria and Honorary Co-Chair of the USNC, Alejandro Messmacher, CFO for EMEA at American Tower Corporation, Wale Tinubu, CEO of Oando, and Dr. Bryant “ABC” Orjiako, Seplat Energy Chairman and Co-Founder.
If you would like to learn more about the USNC and our future programming, please email USNC Director of Operations Jonathan Dörnhofer at jdornhofer@usnigeriacouncil.org.