The Nigerian government is chatting a new road map that would transform the economic landscape, mobilising billions of dollars for Nigeria’s energy future.
Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), laid out what industry leaders are already calling one of the Tinubu administration’s most detailed financing roadmaps said.
According to Phoenix, made the assertion during an elite gathering of geoscientists, financiers, and oil and gas executives at the annual conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) at Eko Hotels, Lagos.
Akume’s keynote address delivered by his Special Adviser (Technical Operations), Prof Babatunde Bolaji Benard, captured both the anxiety and opportunity reshaping Nigeria’s energy industry – an industry that remains the country’s fiscal backbone but is increasingly under global pressure to evolve.
He reminded the audience that over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings still come from the oil and gas sector, stressing that the Country cannot afford a reckless transition but instead, the nation must “maximize value from existing hydrocarbon endowments” while simultaneously building a diversified and resilient energy future. “Our transition must be just, equitable, orderly, pragmatic and people-centered”.
While emphasizing a dual mandate of growing Nigeria’s hydrocarbon value while funding energy transition, Senator Akume, warned that Nigeria cannot decarbonize “at the expense of energy access or national growth”.
One of the strongest elements of his address was the government’s position on the on-going divestment of International Oil Companies (IOCs) from Nigeria’s onshore and shallow-water assets. Akume described the trend as a “dual-edged reality”, according him.
While the exits reflect global ESG pressures, he pointed out that they also offer “a generational opportunity for indigenous Nigerian companies to take the driver’s seat in resource development,” adding that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) are being leveraged to ensure seamless transfer of assets to competent local operators backed by credible financing and world-class governance.
According to him, the Electricity Act 2023, which decentralizes power generation and empowers States in Nigeria, which his economic policy trust is addressing through the Presidential Initiative on Energy Transition, targeting 30 percent renewable energy penetration by 2030.
•Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, prioritizing power generation, transmission and distribution.
•Fiscal incentives under the PIA, particularly for deep-water investments, frontier basin exploration, and gas utilization, and; reaffirmed “as the cornerstone of our national energy strategy”.
Additionally, the keynote speaker on natural gas as Nigeria’s “strategic bridge” to a cleaner future and highlighted key gas-driven projects being accelerated by the administration.
Top on the bill is the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, financed through a blend of sovereign guarantees, development finance, and private capital in a project that will “unlock new industrial corridors and transform Nigeria’s domestic gas market” as an action plan against climate change with a sense of commitment in reducing emissions.
