By David Oluwatosin
Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited has partnered with 13 banks to provide $4.1 billion and ₦435 billion in financing to indigenous oil and gas contractors, in a move aimed at accelerating production growth and strengthening local industry capacity.
The Renaissance Vendors Financing Scheme (RVFS) was unveiled at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony in Lagos on Wednesday, offering credit support in naira and US dollars to local contractors executing projects for the company.
The participating banks are 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).
Speaking at the event, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, Tony Attah, said the scheme’s history demonstrated the potential of vendor financing to support the company’s expansion plans.
Attah said the programme began in 2010 during the Shell era with an initial fund of about ₦1 billion and later developed an ambition to expand its financing capacity to $1 billion.
He said Renaissance had strengthened the initiative through partnerships with the 13 banks, securing a subscribed portfolio of more than $4 billion and ₦435 billion for vendors supporting its growth agenda.
“This is a programme that has been running since 2010. We are unveiling the power of Renaissance and the scalability of the company,” Attah said.
He added that the scheme had recorded no defaults under previous administrations, attributing the record to the integrity of participating vendors.
“So very good credit to the vendors themselves. Integrity is a core value to us at Renaissance,” he said.
Attah also said the interest rates offered under the scheme were competitive and more favourable than those contractors might obtain by approaching the banks independently.
“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,” he said.
The company said the financing facility would help contractors mobilise resources, acquire equipment and execute projects required to achieve its ambitious production targets.
Attah disclosed that Renaissance increased oil output by 100,000 barrels per day within 100 days of taking over the assets in March 2025.
The company has committed to increasing oil production to 500,000 barrels per day by 2030, alongside gas output 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.
The targets align with Nigeria’s broader ambition to produce three million barrels of crude oil per day.
“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,” Attah said.
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However, Renaissance’s Executive Vice President, Finance, Strategy and Commercial, and Chief Financial Officer, Olusegun Banwo, said the scheme’s effectiveness would be determined by actual disbursements and its impact on contractors and project delivery.
He identified key performance indicators to include the volume of financing disbursed, the speed at which qualified vendors access funds, and the extent to which the facility improves mobilisation, project execution, Nigerian content and production.
Banwo described the initiative as a transition from alignment to formalised commitment, with strategic financing expected to promote business growth and shared prosperity.
He said the participating banks’ commitment represented a significant vote of confidence in the scheme and the quality of Renaissance’s vendor network.
“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,” he said.
Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Wole Ogunsanya, described the financing scheme as a potential solution to one of the major challenges confronting indigenous oil and gas service companies: access to affordable credit.
He said local contractors often contend with high interest rates, short repayment periods and stringent collateral requirements imposed by Nigerian banks, making it difficult for them to acquire the equipment required for oil and gas operations.
Under the scheme, contractors with confirmed projects could access financing through participating banks without conventional collateral, subject to verification of their contracts by Renaissance, Ogunsanya said.
He noted that borrowing rates from Nigerian banks could range between 10 and 12 per cent, expressing hope that the facility would reduce the cost of credit to between eight and nine per cent.
According to him, indigenous oilfield service companies would require substantial investments in equipment and hardware over the next four to five years to support the industry’s production expansion plans.
Ogunsanya added that equipment acquired through the facility could also be deployed for projects involving other operators when not required for Renaissance’s operations.
He said this would extend the scheme’s benefits beyond Renaissance, improve contractors’ capacity and strengthen Nigeria’s indigenous oilfield services sector.
The refreshed scheme builds on the contractor financing programme introduced in 2010 during the Shell era. While the renewed initiative has a target portfolio of $1 billion and ₦100 billion, its subscribed portfolio has grown to $4.1 billion and ₦435 billion.
The facility is expected to improve access to financing for local contractors and support the equipment acquisition and project execution required to expand Nigeria’s oil and gas production capacity.
