The Nigerian government is charting a new roadmap aimed at transforming the nation’s economic landscape by mobilising billions of dollars to power 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, funded through a mix of sovereign guarantees, development financing, and private investment—a project expected to unlock new industrial corridors and reshape Nigeria’s domestic gas market as part of a committed action plan to combat climate change and reduce emissions.
