By Moyofoluwa Ogunyemi
As global and regional efforts intensify toward sustainable energy transitions, the RMRDC Lagos Coordination Office had a strategic engagement with some international stakeholders ahead of the Africa Raw Materials Summit, 2025. The engagement took place during a high-level workshop on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) which held at the Lilygate Hotel in Lekki, Lagos, from May 5 to 9, 2025. The workshop which was themed: “Facilitating Access to Finance for SAF Production,” was organized by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in collaboration with the National Council on Climate Change Secretariat and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It convened participants from 14 African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroun, Benin Republic and Nigeria, alongside key international organizations.
Representing RMRDC, the Lagos State Coordinator, Mr. Oluwasola Marinho, took advantage of the global platform to create awareness and mobilize support for the up-coming Africa Raw Materials Summit, scheduled for May 20-22, 2025. He highlighted the Summit as a critical avenue for fostering partnerships and show-casing the continent’s vast potential in sustainable resource utilization, particularly the role of agricultural wastes and biomass in green energy production. Mr. Marinho emphasized that the Africa Raw Materials Summit 2025, would provide a unique opportunity for policymakers, researchers, investors and innovators to explore collaborative frameworks for industrial development through raw materials processing. He noted that the momentum from the SAF workshop would feed directly into Summit discussions, especially in areas related to circular economy, clean technologies and sustainable industrialization.
His call resonated with the broader objective of the workshop, which is to unlock access to finance for SAF production by leveraging Africa’s rich natural resource base.
As several experts and stakeholders pointed out, agricultural wastes and livestock by-products, which are abundant across Nigeria and the continent, present a viable solution to reducing aviation-related emissions and meeting global net-zero targets.
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Mr. Marinho’s call received positive feedback from various stakeholders, who acknowledged the Summit’s importance in promoting regional co-operation, supporting climate objectives and driving investments in green technologies.
Stakeholders also emphasized that the Summit presents a timely opportunity to shift from discussion to implementation by linking policymakers, researchers and investors with practical solutions being advanced for resource development, utilization and sustainable industrial growth across the continent.
