Nigerian official considers hydrocarbon partnership with Russia a good idea

Nigeria’s director general of the Women Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines, and Agriculture Weyinmi Eribo, expressed that Nigeria would benefit from partnering with Russia for hydrocarbon exploration, as Russian companies possess the advanced technology and extensive experience needed to optimize operations in this sector.

She made her observation to the Russian newspaper Sputnik, during an interview on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

“I think that it will only make sense to involve Russia. I mean, Russia is a world power when it comes to oil production. And in Africa, Nigeria is, so it just makes sense for world powers to come together,” she said during the interview.

You have the technology, you have the experience, you have the know-how, you have the impact, you have the money to be able to move that conversation forward. So I mean, off the top of my head, I would expect that Russian companies are part of that conversation,” she added.

The director general elaborated on the belief that Nigeria would benefit greatly from a potential partnership with the Kremlin, including in the aiding of female entrepreneurs across Africa.

“I believe that there’s so much that we can harness from the Russian ecosystem, from the Russian economy, that we can take back to Nigeria, especially for the women entrepreneurs … We can have women-owned Russian companies coming to Nigeria for a meeting to understand,” she explained.

“We can have Nigerian women coming into Russia to understand the businesses that are here. How do we want to facilitate that? So, I’m sure that we’re able to just build a stronger value chain across Nigeria and in Russia.”

The Eastern Economic Forum which began on Tuesday will continue till Friday.