Nigeria has intensified efforts to drive regional gas integration across Africa, as government officials, financiers and industry leaders convened in Abuja to advance cross-border investments and infrastructure development.
The event – the Ministerial Roundtable on Cooperation in Advancing Gas Development with Regional Impact Across Africa, co-hosted by Nigeria’s Decade of Gas Programme and the World Bank – highlighted coordinated execution as a key constraint to unlocking the continent’s energy potential.
The meeting, which was held between March 30–31, brought together delegates from across West Africa, including Senegal, Togo and Benin, signalling a shift from fragmented national gas strategies towards a unified regional system built on shared infrastructure, harmonised regulations and aggregated demand.
The development comes as Africa seeks to translate its gas reserves into a reliable energy supply and bankable projects, particularly as over 600 million people on the continent lack access to electricity.
Nigeria, with over 210 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, is positioning its Decade of Gas initiative as both a domestic expansion strategy and a regional coordination platform. The programme targets gas production exceeding 12 billion cubic feet per day by 2030, alongside increased domestic utilisation and industrial application.
Speaking at the roundtable, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, stressed the need for collective action.
“Africa’s energy future will not be determined by the abundance of our resources, but by our ability to act together,” he said.
“The challenge before us is not resource availability, but coordination, infrastructure, and collective action,” he said.
Regional stakeholders also signalled stronger alignment. Togo’s Minister of Mines and Energy Resources, Robert Eklo, said energy remained central to industrialisation and affirmed his country’s commitment to deeper collaboration with Nigeria.
“There is no industrialisation without energy availability and affordability. Togo is ready to strengthen collaboration with Nigeria under the Decade of Gas initiative and expand its role in regional infrastructure, including the Africa Atlantic Gas Pipeline,” he said.
Discussions at the roundtable focused on translating political commitments into investable projects, particularly in cross-border pipelines, liquefied natural gas infrastructure and gas-to-power initiatives.
The World Bank reiterated its support through policy advisory, technical assistance and risk mitigation tools aimed at attracting private sector investment.
Recent upstream developments, including Senegal’s emergence as a gas exporter, are reshaping West Africa’s energy landscape.
However, stakeholders noted that connecting these assets into an integrated regional system remains critical to meeting industrial demand, boosting power generation and enhancing intra-African trade.
Also speaking, the Coordinating Director of the Decade of Gas programme, Ed Ubong, said production targets would be pursued alongside broader regional collaboration.
“These targets are ambitious, but they are not being pursued in isolation,” he said, noting increasing alignment among governments, financiers and industry players.
With the roundtable concluded, attention is expected to shift to implementation, including the development of project pipelines, financing frameworks and working groups to drive execution across the region.
The outcome underscores a shift in focus from resource availability to coordinated execution across the region.
Nigeria raises gas price for power companies to $2.18/MMBtu
Nigeria’s Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has raised the price of natural gas sold to power generation companies by five cents, a modest adjustment that nonetheless lands on an electricity sector already strained by billions of dollars in accumulated debt.
The NMDPRA said in a circular on Tuesday that the new domestic base price, the minimum at which natural gas can change hands in the local market, will rise to $2.18 per metric million British thermal units from $2.13, effective April 1, 2026.
“Taking into cognisance the provisions of the PIA, market realities, as well as the gazetted Gas Pricing and Domestic Demand Regulations,” the authority said in the circular, signed by Saidu Mohammed, chief executive officer.
Commercial users will face a steeper bill, paying $2.68 per MMBtu under the new schedule, up from $2.63. Gas-based industries, including producers of ammonia, urea, methanol, and low-sulphur diesel, will operate within a price band, with a floor of $0.90 per MMBtu and a ceiling set at the new domestic base price of $2.18.
The NMDPRA said pricing decisions are guided by principles established under Section 167(1) of the Petroleum Industry Act, including ensuring that prices are sufficient to attract voluntary gas supplies from upstream producers, remain competitive with benchmark rates in major emerging market gas-producing nations, and reflect the lowest cost of supply under a three-tier framework tied to international benchmarks.
The incremental nature of the increase reflects a delicate balancing act for Abuja. Nigerian power generation companies have long operated under financial distress, hamstrung by a combination of unpaid electricity bills, foreign-exchange shortfalls, and gas supply constraints that have kept the national grid chronically underperforming relative to demand.
Raising gas prices too aggressively risks deepening the sector’s debt crisis and pushing generation costs higher at a time when electricity tariffs remain politically sensitive. Yet pricing gas too cheaply undermines the commercial incentives needed to unlock fresh upstream investment and expand domestic supply, a tension the PIA was partly designed to resolve.
Nigeria’s electricity grid has for years struggled to deliver reliable power to households and businesses, with generation frequently falling well below installed capacity. Gas unavailability, caused in part by underpriced supply agreements that discourage producers from prioritising the domestic market, has been a persistent drag on output.
The new pricing framework is set against a broader reform effort by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to rationalise fuel and energy subsidies and attract private capital into the power sector.
Whether a five-cent adjustment moves the needle meaningfully remains to be seen. Industry observers have previously argued that sustainable reform requires more structural fixes, including resolving the sector’s legacy debt and improving payment discipline across the electricity value chain, before incremental price signals can translate into real capacity gains.
Nigeria, Others Advised To Challenge Exclusion Policy In Energy Development
Nigeria and other key African oil producing nations have been tasked to resist perceived exclusion practices of their professionals and energy service providers .
The African private sector is raising the alarm over Frontier Energy Network’s policies that systematically exclude African professionals and service providers from meaningful roles in major energy forums.
Such exclusionary practices threaten decades of progress in African energy development, including local capacity building, knowledge transfer and economic participation.
Frontier’s approach, framed as a global platform for Africa, is in practice a system that extracts value from the continent while denying Africans the opportunities to lead, participate and benefit.
Marginalizing the very people who build, operate and sustain energy projects is not partnership – it is structural exclusion masquerading as opportunity.
African businesses – particularly in Nigeria and Senegal, which drive regional growth must reassess their participation in platforms that perpetuate these policies. African capital, sponsorship and attendance cannot continue to legitimize forums where local stakeholders are systematically sidelined. Market access must be earned and mutually respected.
Mozambique and Ghana have already set a precedent. In March 2026, Mozambique’s oil and gas industry withdrew from the Africa Energies Summit in London, citing repeated failures by the organizers to improve diversity, transparency and inclusion of Black professionals in leadership, contracting and deal-making roles.
In early April 2026, the Ghana Energy Chamber followed suit, formally pulling out of the same summit over discriminatory hiring practices that sidelined African professionals, executives and service providers.
These coordinated actions send a clear message: Africa will no longer support platforms that deny its talent the right to lead, contribute and benefit.
The gold standard for companies to thrive in Africa is robust collaboration with international partners while building local capacity – exemplified by Senegal-based energy services company Alliance Energy.
Alliance has advanced African expertise in the sector, notably supporting the launch of the National Institute for Petroleum and Gas in Senegal to train young professionals for leadership roles, while backing diverse energy initiatives across power, solar, gas and wind that strengthen Senegal’s position as a regional energy hub.
This success demonstrates that African companies flourish when local talent, leadership, contracting and workforce development are central to execution, alongside strategic partnerships with the US, UK and Europe. Any entity attempting to operate in Africa without a commitment to hiring or contracting local professionals threatens not only the ecosystem that nurtured companies like Alliance Energy but also the continent’s broader ambition to grow regional capability, ownership and sustainable energy development.
“The message is simple,” says Dr. Ndjuga Dieng, Managing Director of Alliance Energy. “Africa will no longer sit quietly while its talent is excluded from opportunities on its own continent.
Nigeria, Senegal and all African nations must follow the lead of Ghana and Mozambique by standing against platforms that discriminate. Protect your people, your companies and your energy future. Inclusion is not optional – it is the foundation of growth.”
African energy markets have historically thrived on collaboration, both within the continent and with international partners. Events such as the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and the Invest in African Energy (IAE) Forum exemplify this model, integrating African executives, policymakers and service providers into core programming, deal-making and knowledge transfer.
African stakeholders must prioritize platforms that respect local content, equitable hiring and fair contracting. Strategic withdrawal from exclusionary events is not isolationism – it is a stand for principle, economic logic, and the future of Africa’s energy sector. The continent defines its own trajectory and will engage only with partners that recognize African talent as integral, not optional, to the industry’s future.
The position advanced by Alliance Energy aligns with broader advocacy across the continent, including that of the African Energy Chamber, which has consistently called for stronger local content policies, fair contracting practices and greater inclusion of African professionals across the energy value chain. This alignment underscores a growing consensus among African private sector leaders that sustainable industry growth depends on meaningful participation by local companies and talent, not their exclusion.
NCDMB Seeks Stronger Local Supply Chain Management In Oil And Gas Industry
The Executive Secretary (ES) of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has called on partners to ensure enhanced community engagement that will empower local entrepreneurs as it continues to widen local content participation especially in the oil and gas industry.
He said for host communities, inclusive growth means that projects and programmes create pathways to jobs and sustainable livelihoods, provide space for women and youth leadership, support SMEs [small and medium enterprises] and local contractors to grow responsibly and address community needs – education, healthcare, livelihoods, and sustainable infrastructure.”
The ES stated these while commending the KEFFESO Host Community Development Trust (KHCDT) and its oil and gas industry partners, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and First Exploration and Petroleum Development Company Limited (First E&P), for impressive strides in projects and programmes that speak to the major thrusts of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, and objectives of the Board’s Community Content Guideline (CCG).
Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs) are a creation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, administered by Boards of Trustees (BoTs), which oversee the utilisation of funds (3% of annual operating expenditure of upstream petroleum companies in their respective areas) for the purpose of fostering sustainable economic development, human capacity development, and provision of basic infrastructure.
The ultimate aim of the Trusts is to systematically address age-old grievances of neglect in such communities and create a safe and secure operating environment for personnel and assets of oil and gas companies.
Speaking at the Second KEFFESO HCDT Stakeholder Forum, themed “Strengthening Visionary Leadership, Accountability, and Inclusive Growth in Host Communities,” at the Nigerian Content Tower (NCT), Yenagoa, Engr. Ogbe noted that the Trust, by its success story, “represents a new era where communities can take ownership of development priorities, partners can coordinate efforts more effectively, and trust [between communities and industry operators] can be rebuilt through structured engagement.”
He drew attention to the first pillar of the theme – Visionary Leadership – which he said accords with an operating principle of the Board that empowerment of people, particularly youths and women, through skills and opportunity, is a core responsibility of leadership, and that programmes such as vocational training, mentorship and support for local businesses to enable them to participate in the oil and gas value chain are critically important.
He thus commended the emphasis on leadership.
While challenging HCDTs to commit to transparent selection and prioritisation of projects, clear procurement and contract management processes, regular reporting to beneficiaries and stakeholders, Engr. Ogbe, represented by Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, Director of Corporate Services in NCDMB, said NCDMB supports growth models that widen opportunity by strengthening local participation, local supply chains, and local enterprise development.
According to him, “For host communities, inclusive growth means that projects and programmes create pathways to jobs and sustainable livelihoods, provide space for women and youth leadership, support SMEs [small and medium enterprises] and local contractors to grow responsibly and address community needs – education, healthcare, livelihoods, and sustainable infrastructure.”
Issues addressed by the Executive Secretary were echoed in a presentation entitled “Strategic Visioning for Host Communities: 2026” by Mr. Ifeanyi Ukoha, General Manager, Zonal Coordination, of NCDMB, who dwelt at length on parallels between the programmes and projects of the HCDTs and provisions of NCDMB’s Community Content Guideline.
He said the Guideline provides “a structured framework to ensure that host communities are not merely engaged but are fully integrated into the oil and gas value chain.” According to him, “The Guideline requires that community content provisions be embedded within the Nigerian Content Plan submitted by [industry] operators, thereby making community participation a core requirement in project development and execution.”
Earlier in a welcome address, the Convener of the Forum, KHCDT BoT Chairman HRH Moses Theophilus, described the PIA as “a transformative framework that has placed development opportunities directly in the hands of communities,” and thus “a strong foundation on which we must continue to build.” He was, however, quick to add that “its implementation is not without challenges,” and that “deliberate attention” is required to address identified gaps.
He pointed out that one of the major gaps identified from various engagements of the Trust was “the need for clearer and long-term visioning” as well as leadership capacity to determine priorities. He said while the 2025 edition of the Forum centred on “strengthening leadership capacities, ensuring transparency in project execution, promoting inclusivity across youths, women and vulnerable groups, and building sustainable community-driven initiatives,” the 2026 edition was focused on “deepening leadership vision, strengthening the accountability system, and advancing inclusive growth across our communities.”
Co-convener First E&P, in a goodwill message by the Managing Director, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, pointed out that “a vital measure of success for HCDTs lies not only in the execution of projects, but also in the strength of the institutions built, the quality of leadership demonstrated, and the level of trust earned through transparency and inclusion.”
According to him, “While the Trust operates as an independent institution, our vision for the KHCDT is a Trust that builds resilient institutions, manages expectations responsibly, fosters social cohesion, and serves as a benchmark for transparent, accountable, collaborative and sustainable host community development in Nigeria’s extractive sector….”
He assured that First E&P remains committed to supporting the KHCDT’s growth through capacity building, governance strengthening, and the promotion of global best practices, while emphasising that “First E&P seeks long-term planning” and that “HCDTs should be centres of innovation and enterprise.”
The Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, represented by the State Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Barr. Peter Afagha stated that HCDTs have potential to be pivotal platforms for communities to plan and achieve meaningful development.
He said his Administration has invested reasonably in order to enthrone peace and security in the State, and that the prevailing atmosphere would attract businesses to the State. He invited participants at the Forum to witness the commissioning ceremonies for the 60-megawatt gas turbine in Elebele and the 632-metre-Angiama-Oporoma Bridge to be performed on Friday April 10 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a keynote address, the CCE of NUPRC, Mrs. Eyesan, represented by Mr. Sylvester Bighoro, Field Coordinator and Head of the Bayelsa Operational Office, assured that the Commission is committed to supporting development frameworks that promote community development. She commended First E&P and KHCDT for steady progress in implementation of the PIA.
For his part, the CEO of NMDPRA, Engr. Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, represented by Mr. Godwin Iruafemi, Coordinator of the Authority in Bayelsa State, said a commitment to inclusion, accountability, and progress was critically important, while calling for deliberate actions and a strong governance framework.
He noted that genuine collaboration must guide the actions of HCDTs, stating that “a 21st Century model for community development” was imperative. He also charged regulators to ensure effective oversight.
In a presentation on “Driving Inclusive and Sustainable Development under the PIA: Pathways for Vision, Collaboration, and Accountability,” Mrs. Ayebatonye Benjamin-Basuo, Head of Social Performance at First E&P, emphasised that beyond compliance, HCDTs need to dedicate energies towards sound leadership, accountability, vision, collaboration and partnership. Partnership, she explained, is more useful than collaboration, which she described as fleeting.
In a plenary session, the General Manager, Corporate Communications Division (CCD) of the NCDMB, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, addressed the subject of collaboration, among other things, advising stakeholders to undertake mapping, identifying key players – their influence and interests – whose activities could impact their own operations and determine how to closely collaborate with them.
Far-reaching recommendations of the Workshop centred on strategies for strengthening leadership, accountability, and inclusive growth. The imperative of partnerships among HCDTs in which expertise and resources are pooled together by two or more of Trusts was also emphasised to enable them to undertake projects requiring huge capital outlay and technical capabilities.
KEFFESO HCDT comprises Koluama1, Koluama 2, Ezetu 1, Ezetu 2, Foropa, Fishtown, Ekeni, Sangana, Opu Okumbiri, Okumbiribeleu, Oginibiri, which are host communities to NNPC/First E&P, which operate Joint Venture OML 83 and 85. Together they constitute a cluster for development purposes under the PIA.
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New Gas Price To Take Effective In Nigeria
https://guardian.ng/business-services/nigeria-pushes-for-integrated-african-gas-market/
