As the outgoing Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC continues his farewell interactions with stakeholders, His Excellency Dr. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo has written a letter to the Executive Secretary of the African Refiners and Distributors Association, Mr. Anibor Kragha.
In the letter Barkindo personally signed, he stated that “As I prepare for the end of my tenure as Secretary General of OPEC on 31 July 2022, I am taking the time to say farewell to many of the key stakeholders I have had the privilege to work with over the last six years.
“Indeed, I am taking stock of the myriad accomplishments that, together, we have been able to achieve and, perhaps even more importantly, the excellent relationships that have developed and the personal bonds that were forged during this exciting yet challenging period of time,” he stated in the letter.
One of the cardinal achievements, he mentioned, was the launch of the inaugural OPEC Africa Dialogue in June of 2021, which could not have been realized without the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) “and your excellent leadership as Executive Secretary. Your esteemed organization, in partnership with the African Energy Commission (AFREC) and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) helped pave the way for the establishment of an historical partnership that will have a lasting legacy for OPEC and its Member Countries.
The letter continued: “this is the newest of OPEC’s portfolio of international energy dialogues, and comes as the Organization has witnessed an expanding African membership. In fact, we have proudly welcomed three new Members from Sub-Saharan Africa during my short tenure alone. Congo joined OPEC in 2018, Equatorial Guinea joined in 2017 and Gabon rejoined in 2016, after having been a Member for two decades, from 1975 until 1995.
Copy of the letter which was made available to Valuechain also noted that “these newer Members are building upon an already strong continental foundation, which includes: Libya, which joined OPEC in 1962, Algeria in 1969, Nigeria in 1971 and Angola in 2006. All-together, since 2018, Africa is the continent with the highest number of Member Countries in OPEC.
“Throughout OPEC’s 62-year history, African Member Countries have played a key role in meetings and decisions in support of the Organization’s efforts on the global stage to promote stability in the global oil market in the interest of producers, consumers and global economy. Looking ahead, we look forward to continued fruitful collaboration with ARDA, in addition to AFREC, APPO and other leading African partners, as together we seek to strengthen and empower Africa to reach its full potential as a leading global provider of sustainable energy to help meet the world’s growing energy requirements.
“I wish you all the very best of success as you continue to admirably and ably lead ARDA and make significant contributions to Africa and its energy industry. Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration and respect”, the letter concluded.