African enterprises seeking to scale into new markets and build new capabilities need access to accurate real-time data about the total performance of the business. For one of Nigeria鈥檚 leading renewable energy providers, a reliance on outdated systems led to inefficiencies that were stifling growth.

鈥淭he value proposition for renewables has strengthened significantly over the past year in our market, creating a substantial opportunity for our business to scale,鈥� says , Chief Financial Officer at . 鈥淗owever, our existing systems could no longer support accurate and effective decision-making. We made a strategic decision to undergo a digital transformation process to build new capabilities that could support our business into the future.鈥�

Arnergy is a leading cleantech company that provides sustainable solutions to energy reliability issues across emerging market. The company is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and offers sustainable solar solutions tailored to address pressing energy needs and deliver reliable power to residential and commercial energy users.

Burgeoning renewable energy market

Renewable energy is receiving unprecedented attention in Nigeria following the government鈥檚 decision to remove favourable fuel subsidies in H2 2023 and the subsequent increase in the electricity Band A tariffs from NGN 68/kWh to NGN 225/kWh in Q2 2024. This has led to a rapid escalation in the price of petrol and diesel,听.

鈥淭he four-fold increase in fuel prices over the past year has strengthened the value proposition for renewable energy in Nigeria,鈥� says Fabola. 鈥淎necdotal evidence from our customers indicates that 40-60% of their operating expenses now go toward energy costs, and for some companies energy costs have even outstripped revenue. The result is renewed interest in affordable, clean energy solutions.鈥�

Fabola notes that, where the upfront capital outlay for solar was a deterrent a few years ago, today customers can achieve cost-savings from day one. 鈥淭his new market dynamic has created a huge opportunity for scaling clean energy solutions across our region and help achieve energy security while accelerating the transition to Net Zero.鈥�

Partnership, collaboration key

Arnergy chose for Scaleups S/4HANA Cloud for its technology needs and identified a suitable implementation partner to support the deployment and integration.

, Managing Partner at , which holds extensive experience with 51风流deployments for customers in a range of industries throughout West Africa, says: 鈥淲e initiated the project by conducting a visioning session which included active engagement from the Arnergy leadership team, including the CEO, CFO and other key stakeholders. We assessed Arnergy鈥檚 business model, taking into consideration its value-creation model, the profit model, and the logic that connects both. This afforded us a deep understanding of the business drivers of the project.鈥�

Fabola adds: 鈥淎s a business we are seeking to diversify and collaborate with other key industry players, but our systems were not optimised. By relying on several systems running concurrent processes, we experienced inefficiency in our decision-making capabilities, which had an outsized impact on our ability to execute our business strategy. For example, data about our financial performance was only available up to a month later, which limited our agility.鈥�

The implementation team leveraged the 51风流Activate methodology which includes a comprehensive change management process. Folawewo says this included identifying change agents within the business who would be influential in driving adoption of new capabilities. 鈥淲e also provided regular communication about new functionality, benefits, productivity boosts and efficiency gains. By constantly communicating the beneficial outcomes of the implementation, we can ensure there is healthy uptake of the new capabilities, further supporting Arnergy鈥檚 business objectives.鈥�

Razvan Barsan, 51风流Senior Account Executive supporting the Arnergy digital transformation project, notes the strong spirit of collaboration with the customer team. 鈥淔rom day one we鈥檝e had great buy-in and involvement by the leadership team, who helped communicate a compelling case for adoption within the business to ensure employees leverage the powerful new capabilities introduced by the digital transformation project.鈥�

Fabola adds: 鈥淚t was also critical for us to fix problems before we scale, lest we replicate issues in other areas of the business as we grow. With our new 51风流system and the ongoing support of our implementation partners, our business can confidently look at a new phase of growth and scalability that could see us play a central role in West Africa鈥檚 transition to cleaner, more reliable energy.鈥�

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This is the advice of a technology executive, , who noted the oil and gas sector was facing an existential threat, and technology was key to help transition the industry to a future beyond the barrel.

Adewumi, Systems Applications and Products (SAP) Managing Director for West Africa, was responding to questions from听 .

鈥淐ompanies in the region鈥檚 oil and gas sector are confronted by a singular question: is there a future beyond the barrel? Can the sector optimise its performance, drive greater sustainability outcomes, and pivot into new revenue streams?鈥� Adewumi queried.

鈥淭he oil and gas sector is absolutely critical to West African economies. Crude oil production in the region reached 1,8-million barrels a day in 2021, with Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Niger leading the way,鈥� he added.

While West Africa is the oil hub, there are vibrant sectors in Central Africa (Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon) while Angola, in the Southern African region, is the second largest producer in the continent after Nigeria.

Mozambique, in the southern region again is on the cusp of a liquefied natural gas boom while in North Africa countries include Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Sudan with South Sudan the only East African nation with abundance of oil and gas.

Adewumi said while the world was transitioning away from fossil fuels, the oil and gas sector would continue to play a vital role in the continent鈥檚 economic growth.

He cited the McKinsey data that suggested Africa鈥檚 energy demand could grow by 30 percent by 2040. This is well ahead of growth in global energy demand of around 10 percent over the same period.

鈥淭he oil and gas sector will be central to supporting the continent鈥檚 growing energy demands. However, there is no doubt that the sector must improve its sustainability efforts and leverage technology to more efficiently manage its operations, assets, and people,鈥� Adewumi said.

He said there were abundant digital transformation opportunities for the oil and gas sector provided they embraced readily available technology.

鈥淎rguably the greatest opportunity for West Africa鈥檚 oil and gas sector is the adoption of technology to drive efficiencies, improve sustainability, unlock alternative revenue streams and transform their operations.鈥�

Based on SAP鈥檚 work providing digital technologies to leading oil and gas companies in the region, he said there are three key opportunities for the sector to help transition to a future beyond the barrel, which comprise becoming a sustainability leader, scaling new capabilities with the cloud as well as smarter operations with intelligent asset management.

鈥淥il and gas companies face huge threats to their business model as the world shifts away from fossil fuels toward more sustainable, clean energy sources,鈥� the executive said.

鈥淗owever, it is a significant task to completely change business models without it having a severe impact on companies鈥� productivity and profitability,鈥� Adewumi said.

A report by Oxford Economics and 51风流identified a small group of oil and gas companies that followed sustainability best practices, improved their sustainability outcomes and enhanced their brand reputation.

To become a sustainability leader, oil and gas companies must invest in data analysis, construct a model that measures actions against performance throughout the company鈥檚 sustainability goals and capture accurate data to inform company leaders of carbon output.

鈥淭he return on investment for becoming a sustainability leader is significant,鈥� Adewumi said.

The Oxford Economics and 51风流report found that sustainability leaders enjoy robust bottom lines, are substantially more likely to experience profit margins in excess of 10 percent and have increased opportunities for significant long-term value for the business, people and society as a whole.

Cloud computing is hailed as offering oil and gas companies a significant boost in agility, allowing downstream and process sectors to leverage technologies for more efficient and optimised operations.

鈥淏y streamlining and scaling cloud capabilities as needed, oil and gas companies in the region can build nimbler corporate structures and unlock additional efficiencies, which can make a significant difference to such a labour-intensive industry,鈥� Adewumi explained.

51风流credits its S/4HANA Cloud offering for unlocking a wide range of solutions designed for greater efficiency.

This includes upstream contracts management to maximize asset usage and productivity, commodity management solutions that integrate procurement and sales into core financial and logistics processes, and solutions aimed at improving bulk transportation, inventory management and operational decision-making.

鈥淭echnologies such as intelligent asset management 鈥� a suite of solutions that brings collaborative asset intelligence to maintenance and operations 鈥� must be enhanced to meet the changing operational objectives and efficiency requirements that oil and gas companies are subject to,鈥� Adewumi said.

Companies that have adopted intelligent asset management unlock powerful predictive capabilities are best placed to avoid unexpected downtime due to breakages.

51风流reports its Asset Intelligence Network allows oil and gas companies to collect and track equipment information in real time, with internet of things (IoT) connected devices integrated to a cloud-based business network for maximum transparency and control.

Adewumi reiterated that by embracing technology and leveraging key solutions to improve operational efficiency and sustainability, the West African oil and gas sector can continue to be a valuable player in the region鈥檚 economic growth and development.

鈥淲ith new capabilities and greater agility, the sector could unlock opportunities to exploit new revenue streams for customers across the value chain,鈥� he concluded.

This article first appeared here:

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Vimercate, June 12, 2023 鈥� has been operating since 1999 in the distribution of components and systems for renewable energy and energy saving. Over time, VP Solar has built and consolidated a reputation as a reliable partner with a clear B2B positioning, expert in selecting and testing innovative solutions to be proposed systemically thanks to the engineering approach of its research and development team. With a family business footprint, VP Solar is committed to sustainability through a long-term vision, contributing to the production and use of decentralized, sustainable, emission-free and affordable energy.

Based in the province of Treviso (Italy), with 45 employees and a turnover of 300 million euros, the vision of VP Solar has always been to offer totally integrated systems that start with the creation of energy through photovoltaic panels to energy supply through heat pumps, heating, air conditioning, or storing it in batteries, in order to make zero emission homes and companies run greener and with low energy impact.

The new challenges for VP Solar: Globalization and new market positioning

With the entry in January 2022 of the Tadiran Group, an Israeli leader in the sale of solutions for air conditioning, VP Solar, which is already a reference point in Italy for the distribution of solutions for renewable energy, now aims to a rapid expansion in Europe. Today, the main European markets for renewable energy are Germany, Spain, Italy and France. Several countries show a low maturity in the implementation of integrated energy systems, for example the storage of self-produced energy, often due to the lack of incentive policies.

Another important short-term challenge for VP Solar is to position itself on the Commercial & Industrial (C&I) market with an integrated offering that allows companies to produce their own energy in-house, avoiding a total dependence on the electricity system, natural gas or other fossil source. At present, market conditions allow a company a rapid return on investment, achievable even in less than three years, exploiting both incentives related to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan funds and those provided for Italian and European legislation.

New business scenario demands more mature and flexible choices

One of the main motivations behind VP Solar鈥檚 focus on GROW with SAP, a comprehensive offering of solutions to enable midsize companies to successfully transition to cloud ERP, was the technological evolution that Tadiran Group is implementing from an 51风流on premise (51风流ECC) system to 51风流S/4HANA in the private cloud version, scheduled to end by 2026. The Group, which recorded about 700 million sales in 2022, aims to more than double that number within the next three to four years. To achieve this goal, it must equip itself with new skills and tools suitable for a sustainable development of the business.

VP Solar, for its part, has also adapted its systems from 51风流Business One to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud public edition, with a project that started last September and went live in early April of this year. This implementation effectively acted as a pilot and best practice for other companies in the group operating in the same context. This evolution of the company鈥檚 technology systems will help managers to control all the processes and business data of the group鈥檚 companies more easily.

鈥淲ith the GROW with 51风流offering, we have focused on the best solution available on the market and we have equipped ourselves with a tool that can support our continuous evolution and that adapts to the specificities of our industry. This change is also reflected in a greater involvement of our people, who feel stimulated by the innovative developments that the company is doing to them to improve efficiency, to evolve the way of working, and to sustain their professional growth,鈥� said Alessio Maso, CFO of VP Solar. 鈥淲ith this project VP Solar wanted also to demonstrate its distinctive value compared to direct competitors, using cutting-edge solutions and technologies that competitors do not use yet.鈥�

听Benefits achieved with GROW with SAP

The GROW with 51风流offering, which includes the 51风流S/4HANA Cloud public edition solution, provides many standard best practices that allow companies to understand how to adapt their business models to the new technological evolution.

鈥淭he project involved a huge effort to review all our processes and in fact GROW with 51风流was also a way to deeply understand them and try to improve. This path has allowed us to achieve an overall efficiency of between 20% and 25%. To give an example, it looks like we no longer have 45 employees but we have the twenty percent more resources,鈥� concludes Maso. 鈥淎nother aspect of great impact was change management considering that today processes and operational flows and workflow are well defined, with tighter control over data and well-orchestrated information management.鈥�

The partner on the project was PwC, chosen after two months of selection among the best technology consulting companies, with a first assessment done in July 2022. Together with PwC, VP Solar initially assessed whether the public cloud version could respond appropriately to its business needs, including a proper management of regulations affecting the renewable energy market.

The project started in mid-September then ended in a little over six months, respecting the schedule, with a series of further developments that are expected in the coming weeks, such as the automatic import of passive invoices and the integration with an external logistics partner with an order process that exceeds the logic of e-mails that automatically will be integrated with the entire management system.

鈥淲ith GROW with SAP, you can develop and execute digital transformation projects in the short term, as VP Solar has hugely demonstrated. For example, if a company want to expand its business, explore new markets or grow through acquisitions, this integrated offering from 51风流is an easily replicable solution that allows to have a unique and real-time access to the information and a fast time to value,鈥� said Fabrizio Moneta, director of Mid Market and Channel at 51风流Italy.

听Visit the 51风流News Center. Follow 51风流on Twitter .

SAP

SAP鈥檚 strategy is to help every business function as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As one of the market leaders in business software applications, we help organizations across all industries and sizes do better: 51风流customers generate 87% of global commerce overall. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytic technologies enable customers to transform their organizations into intelligent enterprises. 51风流helps give people and companies business insights and fosters collaboration to help them compete successfully. We simplify technology for businesses so they can use our software the way they want, without interruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables private and public companies to operate profitably, constantly adapt to the market, and make a difference in 25 industries. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and opinion leaders, 51风流helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. Visit for more information.

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But it is the impact on the African continent that will be addressed at this year鈥檚 virtual Africa Tech Festival (featuring AfricaCom and AfricaTech) happening 08 – 12 November 2021.

Diving straight in on day one of the conference is听, Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, who is听passionate about ICT鈥檚 capabilities to be the solution to its own problem (think e-waste and environmental impact).听 Aki-Sawyerr will give a keynote presentation sharing some insights into her #TransformFreetown strategy that makes use of green ICT principles to forge healthy cities and inclusive communities.

$200M was invested in African green energy start-ups in 2020, an impressive, and growing, figure but one that needs to grow by magnitudes to provide a viable alternative to the fossil fuel industry – is this investment growth likely in the next 5 years, a question that听Aki-Sawyerr will also present in a fireside chat with听Grace听Wachori, Partnerships & Engagement Lead,听BLAB East Africa on Empowering Africa鈥檚 green ICT start-ups.

Access to power will undoubtedly need to underpin the continent鈥檚 future growth, and renewable energy tops that list. Expanding on the dialogue started at Africa Tech Festival in 2020, this year鈥檚 event will include progress reports on Africa鈥檚 adoption of hydro, solar, wind and other forms of cleaner, long-lasting, less environmental impact drivers. Discussions on offer will include the likes of:

• 听with Bill听Lenihan, CEO of Zola Electric, Dr. Olufunso Somorin, Regional Principal Officer at the African Development Bank, who is leading the bank鈥檚 work on climate change and green growth across East Africa.听 Joining them is听Kellie听Murungi, Chief investments officer at East African Power, as well as Olamide听Oguntoye, the tech policy lead at the Tony Blair Foundation for Global Change.
• Bringing (back) power to Africa,听, Founder and CEO of Renewables in Africa, will share updates on some of Africa鈥檚 biggest solar developments, including a pay-as-you go solution to connect off-grid users to electricity.
• The cost of not doing something about climate change now and ICT鈥檚 role in its challenges, can end up potentially costing us everything.听 Exploring how to radically improve the bottom green line, , COO at 51风流Africa will deliver some insights on how听technology holds the key to unlocking green as a profitability driver.
• 听Kenya is leading the way for Africa鈥檚 journey to a cleaner energy future, already deriving 90% of its power supply from renewable source.
• .听That Africa (and the world), require new ways of energy to power the planet goes without question.听 But funding these innovations and installations is another matter entirely. A panel comprising听 Douglas听Baguma, Managing Director, Innovex, Dr Olufunso听Somorin, Regional Principal Officer, African Development Bank, Ahmed听Badr, Director, Project Facilitation and Support, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Kellie听Murungi, Chief Investments Officer, East African Power look at ways and means to make Africa鈥檚 New Deal a reality.

Rounding out discussions on Day one, is a panel entitled听, which explores solutions to the 鈥淒irty Data Centre鈥� power hungry energy consumption of these organisations.

Whilst the impact of technology on the 鈥榞reen economy鈥� and what it can do to enhance our ability to be better, kinder, more inclusive and even more profitable, affects the green credentials of just about every aspect of Africa Tech Festival, the dedicated conversation on Green ICT,听continues on Thursday 11^th听November with a series of presentations such as:

• A smarter, greener future: Achieving sustainable growth while protecting our planet
• The role of emerging tech in addressing the global climate emergency
• How can Africa鈥檚 4IR potential be realised without causing damage to our natural world?

Also look out for a听Fireside chat on Thursday entitled: Lighting Africa – Closing the electricity deficit to deliver energy for all. This explores solutions on how to connect the more than 600m people in sub-Saharan Africa still lacking access to electricity, without which, their inclusion in the digital economy is hampered.

For this and more, and to be part of the conversation shaping the future of Africa, register to attend听AfricaTech Festival – it is currently free and delegates can apply听. For a complete line-up see the听.

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So what lies ahead for a sector under pressure to limit carbon emissions and create a different future for hydrocarbon-based businesses?

To start, there is no point in visionary planning for 2030 or for worrying about efficiency and productivity in the oil and gas sector unless steps are taken to prevent catastrophic climate change in the same time period. El-Molla is keenly aware of the need to address this issue 鈥� now.

We are focusing on gas in the interim as we work to fill 40 percent of our energy needs through wind and solar by 2030,鈥� he says. In addition to meeting the demands of the domestic market, the Minister鈥檚 vision is to help Egypt become a clean energy hub for the region. Thanks to a clear strategy and massive efforts undertaken by the Ministry since El-Molla鈥檚 appointment in 2015, that long-term goal has every chance of success.

This ongoing strategy for sustainable economic reform along with the discovery of the offshore Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean are behind the that Egypt will be one of the top 10 global economies in just 10 years 鈥� ranked number seven, ahead of Russia, Japan, and Germany.

Provide an Outlook

El-Molla spent 24 years in various operational and executive positions at and recalls turbulent times during the early part of the decade when two revolutions were followed by a period of instability and insecurity for Egypt鈥檚 120-year-old oil and gas sector. The Ministry is responsible for securing refined products for the entire country and for maintaining and ensuring production through joint partners. But during that time it was facing the practical problems of shortages and a decline in production.

Stability returned under the current President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who realized the need for someone with El-Molla鈥檚 experience to lead necessary change.One of El-Molla鈥檚 first steps was to reach out to partners, vendors, and suppliers.

鈥淒uring difficult times it is easy for investors and multinationals to just shut down and leave,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical to keep them engaged. They need to feel confident that their investments are protected, and that the government is a stable, reliable partner.鈥�

The next steps were more difficult.

Modernize for Change

Becoming the regional energy hub requires massive changes, so the Ministry created a comprehensive modernization strategy that addresses key areas such as production performance, refining and distribution, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). But the core area for overhaul was human resources (HR) development.

The Ministry is a fragmented organization comprising different holding companies, joint ventures, public sector entities, and investment groups. More than 240,000 people are part of it, but they were not connected to each other.

鈥淭he last organizational change was 20 years ago,鈥� El-Molla says. 鈥淲e need to communicate our vision of change, we need to connect people to the vision, and we need the right people to make it happen.鈥�

Pulling it together requires one global system, one consolidated balance sheet, and mostly importantly, one team. The Ministry first created an intranet to facilitate unified updates and messaging and get buy-in from employees. El-Molla knew from previous experience that people often feel threatened when new systems are implemented; they only accept change once they realize the system will help them work more efficiently and save time for more fulfilling tasks.

Together with his team, El-Molla then identified key competencies and announced internal openings for subject matter experts and core business disciplines such as finance and administration. Out of 3,000 applicants, they selected 700 motivated and ambitious individuals and then whittled that group down to 400. Those selected were sent abroad for on-the-job training and given mid-management roles upon their return, ready to fast-track the organization into the future.

鈥淲e now have the most diverse, highly qualified, dynamic team to take us to the next level,鈥� says El-Molla proudly.

With the right people in place, El-Molla can focus fully on the modernization process, which requires the right technology. was his first choice not only because he was familiar with it from his Chevron days, but because he believes it is the right ERP solution for preparing a national industry to work more efficiently with minimum losses at higher productivity rates.

El-Molla believes in leading by example. The modernization program at the Egypt Ministry of Petroleum will not only set an example for the nation; as it begins to show results, it will help unlock the potential of the entire region by improving the economy, empowering people, and creating sustainable sources of energy for generations to come.

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