Speaking at the opening of the Nigeria International Energy Summit 2026 in Abuja, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, said Nigeria has both the responsibility and capacity to use its gas resources to support Africa’s economic rise while contributing to global energy stability.

Ojulari described natural gas as central to Nigeria’s long-term economic strategy, noting that it serves as both a cleaner transition fuel and a driver of industrial expansion.

“Gas sits at the heart of our strategy. It is our bridge to a cleaner future, our engine for industrialisation, and our foundation for export-led growth,” he said.

He framed Africa’s energy challenge as a trilemma of accessibility, affordability, and sustainability, pointing out that more than 600 million people on the continent still lack access to electricity.

According to Ojulari, Africa’s energy transition must be tailored to its development realities rather than mirror pathways taken by advanced economies.

“With over 600 million Africans still lacking electricity, the continent’s priority cannot be a copy and paste. Ours must be a just, equitable, people-centred energy transition that lifts people out of poverty and powers industries,” he said.

Africa Losing $15 Billion Annually From Export Of Crude Oil And Gas

By exporting about 70 per cent of its crude oil and 45 per cent of natural gas, Africa annually loses $15 billion, says the Association of Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO).

The APPO Secretary-General, Farid Ghezali, disclosed this on Tuesday in his remarks at the official opening of the 2026 edition of the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES), in Abuja.

Ghezali said in spite of the continent’s immense potential, Africa was facing a paradoxical and frustrating reality of making such significant export of its natural resources.

However, Ghezali, forecasts a turn around of the situation, with the operations of the African Energy Bank (AEB) which is being positioned to raise about $15 billion to finance oil and gas projects in the continent of Africa by 2030.

APPO said the bank, which would begin operation fully by June in Abuja was expected to create over 500,000 direct jobs in the local midstream.

African Energy Bank is a joint initiative of APPO member states and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), established with an initial capital of Five billion dollars.

Its core mandate is to mobilise domestic and regional capital for energy infrastructure, reduce Africa’s reliance on external financing, and align energy investments with the continent’s long-term development and industrialisation goals.

“The AEB will unify intra-African pricing for gas and oil, allowing our member countries to achieve savings of up to 30 per cent on their energy imports, a potential gain of 1.4 billion dollars for Africa,” he said.

He said financing remained the main bottleneck hindering the development of the continent’s strategic projects, adding that over 150 essential projects, from refineries to pipelines, such as the Ajeokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline, to gas infrastructure remained blocked.

To address this anomaly, the APPO scribe,  said the African Energy Bank was designed to unlock the 200 billion needed for the continent’s midstream-downstream projects by 2030.

Ghezali disclosed that the African Energy Bank would allow the listing of shares of the national oil companies in the continent and flagship projects, such as the Dangote Refinery or the AKK Gas Pipeline.

He explained that it would also connect Africa’s certified projects to the world’s largest sovereign wealth as well as to capital markets with structured equipment and public-private partnerships.

The Chairman, Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), Adegbite Falade, in his remarks said Nigeria must build an energy industry that could sustain itself, deliver lasting value to Nigerians through collaboration and consolidation rather than through fragmentation.

“The future of the industry lies not in the whole model of extraction and exports of the nation’s raw hydrocarbons, but it lies in creating in-country value that fuels the economy and increasingly contributes to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth,” he added.

Falade said since 2025 edition of the summit, Nigeria’s oil and gas industry had recorded notable progresses across the entire value chain, adding that the upstream scaled up in terms of liquid production while gas production had grown significantly.

“This growth in liquid has been supported by an increase in export pipeline availability, reduced crude losses, and stronger indigenous contribution to production.

For the first time, indigenous producers and independents now account for more than 50 per cent of national production.

“We continue to see sustained implementation of the PIA and strengthening of sales through the issuance of relevant and appropriate executive orders.

“However, a few things still remain by way of all kinds of process stakeholders if we are to build an energy industry that is truly self-sufficient and that consistently creates value for the nation.,” Falade said.

He,however, urged the Federal Government to continue to create an industry that could allow the driving and the envelope of private capital to build our industry infrastructure.

Falade said, “Without this, we will not be able to reach the massive gap in potential that we have to meet in our contribution to the nation’s GDP.

We must reduce bureaucracy, we must streamline industry fees and related charges, just to make sure that operators remain competitive.

Our industry today operates at a significantly elevated premium in cost relative to other non-share jurisdictions. We must address the issue of access to long-term and affordable capital.

“We must ensure policy stability and adopt competitive fiscal frameworks that support resource monetisation and stimulate interest rate growth.”