…Tasks African Leaders On Investment-Supportive Reforms
The Federal Government has disclosed that following its reform policy initiatives to attract investments into the nation’s hydrocarbon resources industry, over $8 billion in investments for deepwater and gas projects was secured within the past year.
The figure represents an increase over the total of $6.7 billion earlier announced by the government as investment in the energy sector in 2024.
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, who gave these figures in her address at the 2025 Africa CEO Forum held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, attributed the improved investments to government reforms, including the improved fiscal policy regime, faster approval processes, clearer rules, and improvements in the power sector, which made the gas-to-power projects more attractive to investors.
Verheijen clarified: “In under a year, Nigeria unlocked over $8bn in deepwater and gas Final Investment Decisions through decisive presidential action, focused on improved fiscal terms, streamlined contracting timelines, greater clarity to local content rules, and power sector reforms enabling gas-to-power commercial viability. We moved from gridlock to green light, and investors responded.”
In order to sustain investor confidence in the capital-intensive industry, the special adviser cautioned African policymakers to abandon the notions of “African capital” and exhibit investment discipline grounded in commercial logic and global competitiveness.
While maintaining that capital is neither African nor foreign, but rational, the industry expert stressed: “Let’s be clear: capital has no passport. Sentimental appeals to ‘African capital’ are a distraction. Capital is opportunistic, not patriotic. It flows where risk-adjusted returns are competitive.”
To support her viewpoint, Verheijen cited data showing that the continent attracted $340 billion in upstream capital between 2011 and 2015, a figure projected to fall below $130 billion between 2026 and 2030, noting that “that’s not a funding winter. That’s a structural decimation.”
The president’s special adviser explained that since deepwater and LNG projects were operating in fiercely competitive global capital markets, for African oil producing countries to be competitive, governments in the affected countries must pursue strategic partnerships based not on dependency but on mutual interest and value.
She hinged her position on the fact that global capital is increasingly attracted to jurisdictions offering strong project economics, low carbon intensity, and predictable regulatory environments, characteristics that have driven investment into the Permian Basin, Guyana, and Brazil.
Verheijin stressed: “If Africa wants a meaningful slice of the $500bn spent annually on upstream globally, we must offer clarity and competitiveness.”
In addition, she charged Africa’s domestic investors, development finance institutions, banks, pension funds, and sovereign wealth vehicles to provide the needed funds for improved exploration and production (E&P) operations as some international oil companies (IOCs) are divesting from the continent’s oil and gas industry.
On the focus of investments, she advised: “Our sweet spot is onshore, shelf, and domestic gas. That’s where African players must dominate, because we understand the terrain, the risk, and the reward.”
The President Tinubu’s aide lauded the emerging African private sector investors in the hydrocarbon resources industry, citing Renaissance Africa Energy Consortium’s acquisition of Shell’s onshore and the Seplat’s recent 390 million standard cubic feet per day gas supply deal with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited JV as a symbolic transition from colonial-era concessions to indigenous control.
This is even as she highlighted the operational scale of the 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity of the Dangote Refinery, which she described as “not aspirational, it’s operational!”
Despite the promising outlook of the industry in terms of African investments, Verheijen stressed that international capital remained critical with the IOCS still contributing over half of production and capital expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa, charging that Africa must align with their evolving investment criteria.
She clarified: “They’re no longer chasing barrels, they’re chasing value: low-cost, low-carbon, de-risked assets. Let’s be realistic: Africa cannot negotiate terms on capital that hasn’t yet arrived. Investment must come first; returns and benefits will follow.
“We must move beyond appeals for support. Africa must become an investment destination by design, anchored in policy clarity, commercial logic, and strategic intent.
“When we get that right, capital won’t hesitate; it will pursue us. The future will not be given to Africa. It must be built deliberately, unapologetically, and on our terms”, Verheijen added.
It would be recalled that Nigeria recently secured several significant FIDs in its oil and gas sector, including the Bonga North Deepwater Project, the Ubeta Gas Field, among others, thereby demonstrating improved investor confidence in the sector.
Recently, the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, estimated that Nigeria would need about $20 billion yearly over the next 10 years for investment in gas infrastructure.
