Latest News

GreenPower Africa to bring affordable and reliable solar panels to African homes

Aspire Capital Group, through its GreenPower Africa has announced today that it will be adding solar panels to its catalogue of home energy technology soon to be made available in West Africa — with the potential to provide affordable and reliable electricity and reduce customers’ electricity bills.

GreenPower Africa is looking to make 500 installations in 2023, in an initial pilot project in Nigeria with the service to launch across the country next year and thereafter across sub-Saharan Africa.

The new offering comes in collaboration with our leading industry partners who already installs air-source heat pumps, electric vehicle chargers and smart meters across the world. ACG projects that its move into domestic photovoltaics will create hundreds of green jobs within their renewables division across the country.

Alongside offering solar panel installations, GreenPower Africa customers will also be able to choose from a range of complementary solar batteries. This will allow them to store the green energy that they produce and potentially sell it to the national grid as and when it is possible to do so.

Aspire Capital Group CEO, Steve Okoekpen said ‘’the firm together with its technical partners has had success “in scaling and installing huge swatches of smart, green home energy technology and we are optimistic at the possibility of installing the last piece of the puzzle — solar photovoltaic.’’

GreenPower Africa has reiterated its long-term commitment to providing affordable and reliable renewable energy to everyone across Africa.

ACG Contractors’ Health & Safety Forum in Nigeria

Aspire Capital Group’s team in Nigeria hosted a Contractors’ Forum focused on greater collaboration on health and safety across the industry.

Under the theme “Working together to increase leadership, communication, and cooperation towards the achievement of Zero Tolerance Policy”, the aim was a commitment to a future with zero health and safety incidents. More than 100 partners attended this first edition of Aspire Capital Group’s Contractors’ Health and Safety Forum in Nigeria and collaborated to discuss the key current health and safety topics across the country’s energy sector.

Team members from our Nigeria’s office, project sites and leadership were joined by a representative of NNPC and colleagues from the oil and gas industry, professional bodies, stakeholders, contractors and other partner organisations.

The Contractors’ Health and Safety Forum has previously been held in a number of locations where Aspire Capital Group operates, but this was our first nationwide Forum in Nigeria. A committed audience of industry experts and leaders spent the day participating in different interactive forums, with objectives to:

  • Help all parties work even closer on Health and Safety by improving leadership, communication, and cooperation
  • Encourage collaboration and the sharing of industry knowledge, experience and best practices
  • Stimulate new discussions on how to drive a positive health and safety culture and agree on collective commitments and actions


Esome Emmanuel, Aspire Capital Group’s Country Manager, Nigeria said:

“Health and Safety are of paramount importance at ACG. The wellbeing and safety of our employees, partners and everyone we work with is at the heart of our business. I would like to thank all the respective leaders who participated in the Forum. A good health and safety culture always begins at the top of any organisation and it’s important that we drive this together.”


A number of key topics were covered, with programme sessions structured around Life Saving Rules. These provide clear actions to protect people, no matter the work site. Life Saving Rules include Driving, with vehicle related incidents remaining the single largest cause of industry global fatalities and driving continuing to be one of Nigeria’s and indeed Africa’s highest risk activities. Employee engagement, transparency in reporting and the importance of being a caring organisation were other important themes at this successful ACG Contractors’ Health & Safety Forum in Nigeria.

ACG Committed To Investing In Apprenticeships

The UK’sNational Apprenticeship Week 2022 being held from 7th to 13th February 2022 brings together everyone passionate about apprenticeships to celebrate the value, benefit, and opportunity that apprenticeships bring.

The theme for this year’s National Apprenticeship Week 2022 is ‘Build the Future’ and Aspire Capital Group’s Oilworkcareers is committed to looking for talented and enthusiastic apprentices to join them and their partners and play a part in building a low carbon future.

Natasha Reid, Chief Talent Officer at ACG said, “We are delighted to announce that this year our engineering apprentices at ACG have qualified and been offered opportunities within our partner organisations. The work that our 15 apprentices, all in their early twenties, have put in over the last few years has been immense but it has paid off.  This builds on our approach last year of securing roles for all apprenticeships.”

The dedication and hard work put in by the apprentices has ended in the success and achievement in the following qualifications:

BTEC Level 3 Science Industry Maintenance technician

BTEC Level 3 Science Manufacturing technician

NVQ Level 3 Diploma in process/maintenance engineering

As a partner in the UK’s oil, gas and energy industry, an apprenticeship with ACG is the ideal way to start your career. We are looking for talented and enthusiastic apprentices to join us at our partner organisations and play a part in building our future. This year we are recruiting for roles in the Engineering and Manufacturing, Information Technology, Commercial and Business Administration areas.

Partnership to build capacity in renewable energy for Omani graduates

Following ACG’s recent partnership with the Oman Hydrogen Centre (OHC) to build the Sultanate’s capabilities in the renewable energy sector, our team hosted a two-day training programme to upskill and develop young nationals for careers in new energies.


Held at Seeb Training Centre, Muscat, 15 Omani graduates from different universities across the country attended courses under the themes Process Safety Management and New Energies. From the first session, the trainees gained insights about key methodologies used to identify safety defects in energy facilities through conducting risk assessments as well as safety analysis.

The second session involved subject matter and technical experts, sharing knowledge on the principles of hydrogen and ammonia production, the challenges of green hydrogen developments and the lessons learned from active projects.

Key guest speakers showcased proprietary technology with the potential to support low carbon hydrogen development in Oman. CeraPhi also highlighted the use of its CeraPhiWell Advanced Closed Loop Geothermal solution for depleted oil wells and Zero Carbon presented on turning waste Methane into hydrogen and graphene.

OHC is the first research facility of its kind in the Sultanate, supporting the country in accelerating its transition to renewable energy. The centre provides an international hub for research, technology, education, industry applications and economy, aligned with Oman Vision 2040.

Dr Ahmed Ameri, ACG’s Country Manager – Oman, said:

“Our collaboration with the Oman Hydrogen Centre aims to empower the future generation through developing studies related to renewable energies and green hydrogen. Through these sessions, the Omani young graduates had the opportunity to gain technical training that included hands-on sessions with experienced experts in the field. Thank you to everyone involved for all your efforts in making this event a success.”


While Dr. Sausan Al Riyami, Director of Oman Hydrogen Centre, remarked that:

“Remarkable efforts from governmental units, industries, and scientists take place towards accelerating the energy transition and a green economy, with the objective to achieve net-zero emission by 2050. OHC is proud to cooperate with ACG and other partners, and jointly we are aiming to develop and enable the building of our Omani talents in energy sector.”

OnlyOneEarth campaign for World Environment Day

We at ACG join the world to celebrate – World Environment Day on June 5, which is the biggest international day for the environment. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually since 1973, the event has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach, with millions of people from across the world engaging to protect the planet.

All over the world, governments, businesses, organisations, civil society, schools, celebrities, cities and communities are encouraged to focus their efforts on the most pressing environmental issues confronting our planet. More importantly, raising awareness and celebrating environmental action.

The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘’Only One Earth’’, highlighting the impact on nature from the burning of the Brazilian rainforests, wildfires in the United States and Australia to the locust infestations across East Africa, melting glaciers and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, as civilization pushes further into nature’s territory. The campaign also calls for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet.

As an energy resources development company, Aspire Capital Group impact significantly on the environment not only from the Greenhouse Gases we emit through our operations, but also through the end use of our products.  We are taking considerable and decisive steps to address our own operational carbon footprint in line with our revised Climate Policy.

In line with the theme of this year’s World Environment Day – Only One Earth, ACG is redoubling its efforts and commitment to significantly limit the impact of our operations on the natural environment.

We continue to avoid operations in World Heritage Sites and our operations are assessed by independent monitoring groups, consistently adhering to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards.

Message From Our CEO on COVID-19

At Aspire Capital Group, we are mindful of how COVID-19 is causing much concern for many people, businesses, and establishments around the world. During this time, business continuity and the health of our clients, employees and partners are our primary concerns.

To help stop the further spread of the virus, we follow up on all hygiene, social distancing and travel guidelines laid out by the World Health Organization (WHO) and local public health authorities, taking actions in accordance with their advisories.

Steps to ensure the safety and wellness of our employees including enhanced sanitation of facilities, opting for online meetings to replace in-person meetings, setting up screenings and implementing visitor guidelines for those coming to our locations and working from home as much as possible have all been made.

ACG’s executive team is closely monitoring the COVID-19 developments, and determining the measures to help minimize any impact on our operations.

We want to ensure business continuity to the highest level as possible. We are in solidarity with you and will support you as much as possible, without compromising the safety of your employees and ours. In this context, we will advance projects and conduct business by phone or remote (web/video) conferencing tools. We will intervene on site only for emergency situations and any intervention will be closely coordinated and monitored.

These are challenging times, but we can face them through enhanced solidarity.

In the coming days, weeks and months, we will continue to monitor the situation closely and to adjust our policies and provide updates as needed. We are confident that we are doing the right thing and that we will come out of this situation stronger.

Take care of yourself and stay safe and healthy.

ACG’s Chief Executive speaks at African Oil & Gas Investment Forum

Aspire Capital Group Chief Executive gave a keynote speech at the recent African Oil & Gas Investment Forum.

The African Oil & Gas Finance and Investment Forum, is an influential Nigerian event which focuses on deepening and broadening the economic partnership between the UK and Nigeria in oil, gas and energy sectors.

The CEO’s speech reflected the UK Government’s strategy to increase trade between the two countries through a network of accredited suppliers and contacts.  He spoke about the opportunities available to UK companies considering investing in Nigeria such as:

  • The rich conventional oil and gas resources of Nigeria
  • The country’s  huge potential for renewable energy
  • The hugely under-developed power sector
  • Natural gas distribution and utilisation across the country
  • Partnering with its Local Content resources and its fast developing supply chain and capabilities.

More than 200 people attended the event held in London, including industry investors, academics and representatives of the Nigerian and British energy departments and representatives of UK companies operating in Nigeria and across Africa. 

Nogtec forges closer ties with African University Students

Aspire Capital Group actively supports building partnerships that work and development in the communities in which it operates, and focuses on initiatives that encourage young people to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects.

This year, Nogtec University Alliance Programme sponsored the African Students Dinner, which is part of our year-long initiative to support African university students across four of their key education-based events. These events include, a lecture series, a mentoring programme and a careers fair.

This year’s dinner was attended by mainly Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths students. Some 500 people attended, including oil and gas professionals working with major multinational energy companies. The Nogtec team led by Daniel Hayden presented a well-resourced exhibition area, which was visited by students and guests keen to know more about establishing a career in the oil and gas industry and with ACG. 

 We embarked on a University Alliance Project seven years ago sponsorship opportunities. We look forward to continuing our partnership with African universities and students.

ACG shares its Training & Development expertise at East Africa Oil & Gas Summit

Significant onshore oil discoveries in Uganda and Kenya and offshore gas discoveries in Tanzania and Mozambique have made East Africa a subject of intense interest among the global energy industry.

The international oil and gas business and investor community has expressed interest in developing oil and gas infrastructure in East Africa. At the East Africa Oil & Gas Summit in Nairobi, business leaders from across the globe came together to combine regional governments’ insight with that of international operators and service providers.

As delegates discussed commercial opportunities from the speed at which governments in East Africa are developing hydrocarbon reserves; another key consideration was ensuring the people in the region directly benefit from their country’s Oil and Gas resources through job creation, empowerment and national workforce development.

Olumide Bankole, ACG’s Head of Training and Development Services, took to the stage to share our full-service training solutions – focused on designing, developing and delivering site-specific operations and maintenance training programs. He emphasized that the anticipated future make-up of the global oil and gas industry, depicts a growing requirement for engineering, construction, operations and maintenance technicians. 

‘’Therefore the question that we should be asking ourselves is: how can we make sure the specific technical skills required to support an offshore oil and gas industry are available within East Africa countries workforce’’?

“Engineering, construction, operations and maintenance technicians, first-line supervisors, maintenance and repair technicians require technical vocational training.”

From traditional industry standard course delivery and development, which can take years – to fast-track technical training through the creation of dedicated training centres and real-life infrastructure. Olumide outlined the benefit of creating “immersive training environments that provide a realistic, hands-on training, without the risk” to accelerate and assure competency in just two years.

‘’In each of our training ventures, we’ve collaborated with industry and academia to create dedicated systems for technical and vocational training that match the future requirements of skilled talented professionals. This feeds the industry’s forecasted growth, reducing its reliance on expatriates. These are the kind of learnings East Africa regional governments can harness in pursuit of its own workforce development”

According to Olumide, successful workforce development requires more than just technical competence. However, he outlined the need to focus on the creation of a workforce that holds safety at the core of its DNA.

“History has taught us that the provision of safe equipment, systems and procedures is insufficient if the culture does not actively promote safe working. It is behaviours that turn systems and procedures into reality. What people actually do is influenced by their beliefs, values and attitudes towards safety.’’

‘’To us at ACG, training has gone beyond being something people feel they have to do from a compliance perspective. Our goal is to help clients reduce risk and maximise returns, while training a confident, competent, and safe workforce.’’

Aspire Capital Consulting Wins MMO Contract in the UK

Aspire Capital Consulting has won a framework agreement to provide engineering and construction services personnel for several offshore oil and gas fields in the UK North Sea.

The contract has a fixed period of two years as well as an option to be extended by two years. Aspire Capital Consulting business in the UK will deliver on the assignment, which was awarded by an international oil and gas operator.

“Winning this contract in such a competitive market proves Aspire Capital Consulting’s ability to add value to the business and find effective ways to support our customers at a challenging time for the industry,” said Barry Cooper, Aspire Capital’s Technical Director.