Sterling Bank partners Renaissance to expand financing for indigenous oil and gas contractors

Sterling Bank Limited (‘Sterling Bank’) has entered into a strategic financing partnership with Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited (‘Renaissance’) to improve access to capital for indigenous oil and gas contractors, strengthening the capacity of Nigerian businesses to execute critical energy projects and contribute to the country’s production ambitions.

The partnership, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), brings Sterling Bank into the renewed Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme (RVFS), a structured financing programme designed to address one of the longstanding challenges confronting indigenous service providers in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry: access to timely and affordable funding for contract execution.

The expanded programme brings together 13 financial institutions with combined financing commitments of $4.1 billion and ₦435 billion, creating a substantial pool of capital to support eligible contractors delivering projects for Renaissance, operator of the former Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) joint venture assets.

Speaking on its participation, Dele Faseemo, Group Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking at Sterling Bank, described the partnership as an important opportunity to connect financial capacity with productive enterprise in one of Nigeria’s most strategically important sectors.

“At Sterling Bank, we believe financing should enable capable businesses to deliver, grow and compete. Our participation in the Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme reflects that conviction. By providing structured funding to qualified contractors, we are supporting the businesses that keep the energy value chain moving, strengthening Nigerian content participation and contributing to the broader objective of increasing the country’s productive capacity,” Faseemo said.

For many indigenous contractors, securing a major contract represents only the first step towards business growth. The ability to mobilise equipment, procure materials, retain skilled personnel and meet demanding project timelines often depends on access to adequate working capital. Financing constraints can therefore limit the capacity of otherwise qualified businesses to execute contracts, scale their operations and participate more meaningfully in the energy value chain.

Through the RVFS, participating financial institutions will provide structured financing to eligible contractors against confirmed contracts awarded by Renaissance, subject to applicable credit assessment and approval processes. The arrangement is intended to ease funding pressures, improve project execution and strengthen the financial capacity of indigenous service providers.

Tony Attah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, highlighted the importance of the financing arrangement to the company’s growth ambitions.

“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 ₦435 billion funds available for the vendors to be able to support us in our growth agenda,” Attah said.

He further emphasised the financial advantage the scheme offers participating contractors, noting that, “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.”

The Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme builds on a contractor financing programme established in 2010, which has evolved over the years to support local service providers executing projects across the oil and gas value chain. Its latest expansion comes as Renaissance pursues an ambitious growth strategy, including its aspiration to achieve production of one million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030.

Delivering on this ambition will require sustained investment not only in upstream production assets but also in the network of engineering firms, equipment suppliers, logistics providers, technical specialists and other indigenous businesses whose services are essential to operational performance.

With an established presence in corporate banking and energy sector financing, Sterling Bank continues to support businesses operating across critical segments of the Nigerian economy through tailored financial solutions, strategic partnerships and sector-specific expertise.

The collaboration reinforces the Bank’s commitment to supporting indigenous enterprise development, strengthening local capacity and financing productive economic activity, while contributing to efforts to improve Nigeria’s energy security and long-term industrial competitiveness.

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