Business
Global Energy Industry adds 5 million jobs , says iea
Applied technical roles such as electricians, pipefitters, line workers, plant operators and nuclear engineers are in especially short supply.
image credit : iea
The International Energy Agency says that the global energy sector created 5 million employments in the past five years (2019-2024) to reached 76 million people worldwide.
The agency, in its just released World Energy Employment 2025, however warns of deepening skilled labour shortages: “Applied technical roles such as electricians, pipefitters, line workers, plant operators and nuclear engineers are in especially short supply. “
“Out of 700 energy-related companies, unions and training institutions participating in the IEA’s Energy Employment Survey, more than half of them reported critical hiring bottlenecks that threaten to slow the building of energy infrastructure, delay projects and raise system costs,”iea said.
According to the report, the power sector is leading the way on job creation, accounting for three-quarters of recent employment growth, and is now the largest employer in energy, overtaking fuel supply.
Solar PV is a key driver of growth, complemented by rapid expansions in hiring in nuclear power, grids and storage.
Increasing electrification of other sectors of the economy is also reshaping employment trends, with jobs in EV manufacturing and batteries surging by nearly 800 000 in 2024.
Fossil fuel employment remained resilient in 2024.
Coal jobs rebounded in India, China and Indonesia, pushing employment in the coal industry 8% above its 2019 levels despite steep declines in advanced economies.
The oil and gas industry has also regained most of the jobs lost in 2020, although low prices and economic uncertainties have triggered job cuts in 2025.
Based on early data, energy employment growth is expected to moderate to 1.3% in 2025, reflecting persistently tight labour markets and heightened trade and geopolitical tensions that are making some firms more cautious about hiring.
Despite the strong recent performance of the overall energy sector, the supply of newly qualified workers is not keeping pace with the sector’s needs.
To prevent the skills gap from widening further by 2030, the number of new qualified entrants into the energy sector globally would need to rise by 40%.
The report shows that this would require an additional $2.6 billion per year of investment globally, representing less than 0.1% of spending on education worldwide.
“Energy has been one of the strongest and most consistent engines of job creation in the global economy during a period marked by significant uncertainties,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “But this momentum cannot be taken for granted.
The world’s ability to build the energy infrastructure it needs depends on having enough skilled workers in place. Governments, industry and training institutions must come together to close the labour and skills gap. Left unaddressed, these shortages could slow progress, raise costs and weaken energy security.”
Business
Flutterwave buys Mono for $40 million
Under the deal, Mono will continue to operate as an independent product, with no changes to its leadership or operations.
• Flutterwave Nigeria HQ, Lagos
Flutterwave, Africa’s largest fintech company, has acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all-stock transaction valued between $25 million and $40 million.
The acquisition brings together two major fintech infrastructure players as Flutterwave looks to strengthen its payments stack with open banking, data, and identity capabilities.
Under the deal, Mono will continue to operate as an independent product, with no changes to its leadership or operations.
The transaction allows Mono’s investors to at least recoup their capital, with some early backers reportedly recording returns of up to 20x.
(Nairametrics)
Business
Venezuela: Crude prices edge lower following Maduro’s overthrow
CNBC reports that U.S. crude oil fell 31 cents, or 0.54%, to $57.01 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent fell 22 cents, or 0.36%, to $60.53 per barrel.
• An oil-themed mural in Caracas, Venezuela
Crude oil prices edged lower Sunday, as the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro by the Trump administration has cast deep uncertainty over oil-rich Venezuela.
Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC, sits on the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world at 303 billion barrels or about 17% of the global total, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
CNBC reports that U.S. crude oil fell 31 cents, or 0.54%, to $57.01 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent fell 22 cents, or 0.36%, to $60.53 per barrel.
President Donald Trump made it clear Saturday that U.S. investment in Venezuela’s oil sector is a key objective of the regime change operation that ousted Maduro.
“We’re going to have our huge United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure,” Trump said in a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The president said Saturday that the U.S. embargo of Venezuelan oil remains in place.
Business
MAN woos CBN, MOF for manufacturing refinancing facility
The Director -General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the call for the facility in a report on the manufacturing outlook for 2026.
Cover image: MAN
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called on the monetary authorities ( CBN and MOF) to introduce a Manufacturing Refinancing and Rediscounting Facility (MRRF) believing that it can reinvigorate the manufacturing sector in 2026.
The Director -General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the call for the facility in a report on the manufacturing outlook for 2026.
He said that the MRRF is to enable banks to refinance approved manufacturing loans at single-digit rates for up to seven years.
He emphasised that to ensure a more robust manufacturing sector in 2026 , there was need for:
- 1. Launch a Manufacturing Refinancing and Rediscounting Facility (MRRF) that allows banks to refinance approved manufacturing loans at single-digit rates for up to 7 years.
- 2. Create a publicly accessible dashboard tracking lending flows, interest rate spreads, loan approvals and sectoral disbursement patterns in real time.
3. Further reduce the benchmark interest rate by at least 200–300 basis points over the next two quarters to make credit affordable for manufacturers.
4. Craft and ensure the effective execution of the implementation strategy for the recently approved Nigeria Industrial Policy.
5. Categorize manufacturers as strategic users of gas to remove the gap between what manufacturers and electricity generation companies pay per cubic foot of gas.
6. Introduce a stable, transparent gas pricing framework for manufacturers and prioritize local gas supply before exports.
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