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Reforms drive $5.3bn in upstream investment to Nigeria – Presidential aide - PUNCH
By Jide Ajia
Nigeria has officially reclaimed its position as the primary destination for energy capital in Sub-Saharan Africa, capturing a 38 per cent of all major project sanctions on the continent over the last 24 months.
In an update shared on Thursday via X, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, revealed that the country attracted $5.3bn in upstream capital investment in 2025 alone.
This surge, she said, comes despite an 18 per cent overall decline in upstream spending across the Sub-Saharan region, signalling a decoupled growth trajectory for Nigeria’s energy sector.
“The report highlights a dramatic “turnaround” in investor confidence. Between 2015 and 2023, Nigeria managed to secure only 4% ($5bn) of sanctioned African Final Investment Decisions (FIDs), accounting for just 6 out of 44 projects. Under recent reforms, that figure has leaped to 5 out of 8 projects across the continent.
“Nigeria has been able to prove that this approach works. We moved from gridlock to greenlight, and investors responded,” Verheijen stated, noting that the country now offers the most attractive gas terms in Africa.
Central to this success, Verheijen added, is the Shell–Sunlink HI Field (OML 144), a shallow-water non-associated gas project that reached FID in 2025.
“This project was made commercially viable by the Non-Associated Gas (NAG) incentives introduced in 2024, providing critical feedstock for the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) project.
“Our task was to design a system that eliminates rent-seeking while preserving the true meaning of local content—empowering Nigerian talent and enabling indigenous enterprise,” she added.
This sharp recovery is best illustrated by comparing the current momentum to the previous decade.
“Between 2015 and 2023, Nigeria struggled to remain competitive, capturing only 4% of sanctioned African FIDs with just six projects totaling $5 billion in nearly nine years. However, in just the last two years (2024–2025), the country has successfully secured 38% of the continent’s major projects, attracting a massive $8 billion in capital through five high-impact project sanctions.
“The administration’s “Data-Driven” benchmarking has propelled Nigeria into the top quartile of global jurisdictions for investment competitiveness. With the Bonga North and Ubeta gas developments also advancing, the presidency expects this momentum to carry into 2026.
“As Nigeria enters a new cycle of upstream investment, we must strengthen local content as a catalyst for smooth and timely project delivery. Regulators must shed legacy mindsets and act as enablers of speed, clarity, and efficiency,” Verheijen concluded.
