FG Sets Conditions for Foreign Investors in Environmental Management

The Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said thaat foreign investors willing to invest in environmental and fuel related activities management in the country must be ready to carry out their research and transfer that technology to Nigerians.

The minister stated this while receiving the Chairman of an Israeli company DOR Chemical, Gil Danker in his office in Abuja.

Such collaboration, he said, will help tap the rich and abundant natural gas resources in the country by producing methanol, produce fuel and diesel for the transport sector, protect our environment and grow the economy.

“The biochemical would be very helpful in this respect, they would do research, they would produce in Nigeria, they would be able to transfer technology to our nation because what they are bringing is something new.

“They want to help Nigeria move in the direction that other developing countries are moving, start diversifying the source of their fuel. Many developing countries now get their fuel from methanol we should also key- in because one is cheaper, it would help us to create jobs and protect our environment” The minister said.

According to Onu: “Nigeria has a lot to benefit by moving from resource based economy to innovation based base economy which is technologically driven, we cannot continue to rely on just commodities and primary products for our economy.

“We must add value to what we have and we also must close all technology gaps in the country, we are the largest economy in Africa we have the largest population in Africa, we should become more self-reliant, we must, as nation start producing the things that we need.”

He however explained that the ministry is ready to welcome any investor that is ready to come to our country and help our economy.

In a remark, the Chairman of Dor Chemicals, Gil Danker, stated that their main product is methanol, which is produced from natural gas and is a basic product from which one can produce a lot of different products.

According to him, “In this world there are different products which were made of methanol, however methanol is a source for world clean energy both for transportation and can also be used for electricity generation.”

“You country has lot natural gas out of which you can produce methanol which is liquid which is much easier to store and transport , we see a huge potential for this economy.”
Gil Danker noted that “Methanol economy in Nigeria can reduce the cost of energy because methanol is cheaper than gasoline and diesel, it can improve the environment and create a lot of jobs in Nigeria”.

Methanol is mainly produced from Natural gas, and can also be produced from coal, Biomass and Carbon dioxide emissions.

“The use of methanol offers significant environmental benefits due to the reduced gaseous emissions to the atmosphere. It can used as fuel substitute in the internal combustion engines.” he said.