Botswana Oil Limited (BOL) will tomorrow (Monday) host the storage and distribution forum in conjunction with African Refiners Association (ARA). Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Botswana Oil Limited, Willie Mokgatlhe said in an interview that many African experts will be in Botswana to attend the forum, network and share experiences with entities active in the local petroleum sector. Mokgatlhe added that many of the challenges faced by the continent are related to storage and distribution of products.
“The ARA is becoming the reference for the need for African nations to work together to build an efficient, economic and safe fuel supply chain and to build a trained African work force that will achieve our aims,” said Mokgatlhe.
He further said BOL was pleased that the Association had chosen Botswana as the host for the pan-African event. He revealed that the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources (MEWR), Kitso Mokaila, is scheduled to officiate at the Storage and Distribution Forum. The seminar is being organised by the African Refiners Association (ARA) in conjunction with Botswana Oil Limited (BOL)
“This follows the execution of a highly successful inaugural seminar in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in 2014,” he stated.
The forum provides a platform to bring together pan-African and international storage, distribution and marketing company professionals, potential investors, governments and regulators active in African downstream petroleum supply. Countries like Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Algeria, Niger and United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be represented at the forum.
Mokgatlhe explained that the ARA storage and distribution forum aims to stimulate discussion about the success factors influencing storage and distribution of petroleum products. He added that discussions will also highlight the challenges and resolutions to these, particularly for countries which rely on neighbours for reliable transit supply, quality certification and the setting up and enforcement of safety and environmental standards.
He further spoke about the significance of the forum and quoted the President of ARA Pierre Reteno N’Diaye, “one year ago we identified the challenges facing the distribution of fuel across Africa in order to keep pace with our continent’s economic growth. This year we want to emphasise on developing the solutions to these challenges, and how, in particular, landlocked countries can be confident of reliable, economic and safe supply.”
