Renaissance Backs Local Oil Contractors with $4.1bn, N435bn Fund, Partners 13 Banks

***• Pursues ambitious 500,000bpd growth drive ***

• PETAN: facility addresses industry-wide equipment gap constraining production

Peter Uzoho

Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited has partnered 13 banks to provide a subscribed financing portfolio of $4.1 billion and N435 billion to indigenous oil and gas contractors, as the company pursues an ambitious production growth programme of 500,000 barrels per day.

The Renaissance Vendors Financing Scheme (RVFS) unveiled at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony in Lagos offers credit support in both naira and US dollars to local contractors executing projects for the company.

A statement issued yesterday listed the 13 participating banks as First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, First City Monument Bank, Sterling Bank, Wema Bank, Union Bank, The Infrastructure Bank, and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, Tony Attah, said the programme’s long history demonstrated the potential to scale contractor financing in support of the company’s growth agenda.

Attah said, “This is a programme that has been running since 2010. We are unveiling the power of Renaissance and the scalability of the company.”

He recalled that the initiative began in the Shell era with a fund of about N1 billion, with a later ambition to grow it to $1 billion.

Attah stated, “What we’ve been able to achieve as Renaissance is to go into that partnership with these incredible 13 banks who have come up to support this vendor scheme at over $4 billion and over N435 billion funds available for the vendors to be able to support us in our growth agenda.”

He said the scheme had recorded no defaults under previous administrations.

He stated, “So very good credit to the vendors themselves. Integrity is a core value to us at Renaissance.”

Attah also said interest rates offered to contractors were competitive.

According to him, “The interest rate that the banks are offering to the contractors is very competitive, and it is certainly better than the vendors going out to the respective banks on their own.”

On production, Attah said Renaissance increased output by 100,000 barrels per day within 100 days of taking over the assets in March 2025.

The company has committed to growing oil production to 500,000 bpd by 2030, with gas production of more than 2.2 billion standard cubic feet per day for energy supply and an additional one billion standard cubic feet per day for industrialisation. This aligns with Nigeria’s aspiration to produce three million barrels of oil per day.

Attah stated, “That is a massive scale, and this vendor financing is one of the strategic options we have put in place to be able to support the partners who are going to go with us on this journey.

“Funding is a critical aspect of achieving this growth agenda for us.”

Executive Vice President, Finance, Strategy and Commercial, Renaissance, Olusegun Banwo, and Attah said the scheme’s success would be measured by its actual impact on contractors and project delivery rather than financing commitments alone.

The company said key indicators would include the volume of financing disbursed, how quickly qualified vendors could access funds, and the extent to which the facility improved mobilisation, project execution, Nigerian content, and production.

Banwo described the initiative as a transition from alignment to formalised commitment, using strategic financing to drive enterprise growth and shared prosperity.

He called the 13 banks’ commitment a significant vote of confidence in the programme and the quality of its vendor ecosystem.

He explained, “The ambition is not simply for Renaissance to grow, but for capable Nigerian businesses to grow with us as we pursue our target of one million barrels per day by 2030, while also contributing to the Federal Government’s broader production ambition.”

Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Wole Ogunsanya, said the scheme could help address one of the biggest constraints facing indigenous oil and gas service companies: access to affordable credit.

He explained that local contractors often faced high interest rates, short repayment periods, and stringent collateral requirements from Nigerian banks, making it difficult to acquire equipment needed for oil and gas projects.

Under the scheme, contractors with confirmed projects could access financing through the participating banks without conventional collateral, subject to contract verification by Renaissance, Ogunsanya said.

He stated that borrowing rates from Nigerian banks could range between 10 and 12 per cent, and expressed hope the facility could bring them down to between eight and nine per cent.

According to Ogunsanya, the facility addresses an equipment gap that could constrain production growth across the industry.

He said indigenous service companies would need substantial investment in equipment and hardware over the next four to five years to support higher output.

He stated that equipment acquired through the scheme could also serve other operators when not required for Renaissance’s projects, extending the benefits beyond the company and strengthening Nigeria’s oilfield services sector.

Renaissance said the scheme built on a contractor financing programme introduced in 2010 during the Shell era.

It added that the refreshed scheme had a target portfolio of $1 billion and N100 billion, but its subscribed portfolio had reached $4.1 billion and N435 billion.