Nigeria has again positioned itself at the forefront of Africa’s energy debate, pushing for regional cooperation to end the continent’s dependence on fuel imports worth over $120bn annually.
At the Africa Oil Week 2025 Ministerial and CEO Leadership Forum in Accra, Ghana, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, declared that integration remained Africa’s best hope of achieving energy security.
This was contained in a press statement on Tuesday by Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Minister, Nneamaka Okafor.
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The statement read, “Lokpobiri stressed that integration remains the most effective strategy to end Africa’s energy poverty, noting that shared infrastructure, harmonised standards, and technical expertise will enable the continent to secure its energy future.
“He highlighted Africa’s heavy reliance on imports, revealing that the continent spends over $120bn annually on hydrocarbon imports.
“This is capital flight. These funds should remain within Africa to fuel our own development priorities.”
Lokpobiri disclosed that Nigeria was spearheading the creation of a West African Reference Market, an initiative to leverage the country’s growing refining capacity to supply petroleum products across West Africa and beyond.
He noted that Africa’s problem was not a lack of capital, but rather the absence of harmonised rules that give investors confidence.
“Investors make long-term decisions based on stability and predictability. Africa must harmonise its policies to attract and retain investment,” the minister said.
He also dismissed claims that the Paris Agreement mandated Africa to abandon its oil and gas resources, arguing instead for responsible exploitation.
“Africa contributes only 3 per cent of global CO₂. We cannot lead an energy transition when we don’t even have energy. Our priority must be to responsibly harness our abundant resources to power growth,” he said.
Lokpobiri urged African leaders to unite around a shared vision, noting that “Africa has the market, the population, and the resources. What we need now is to keep value within our continent and finance our own energy future.”
The PUNCH observed that Nigeria spent N2.3tn on petrol imports in Q2, 2025, as against N1.76tn recorded in Q1 this year, bringing the half-year total spending on importation of the product to about N4.06tn, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
During Q2, petrol was among the top five most imported commodities nationwide, followed by durum wheat, gas oil, crude petroleum oils, and cane sugar for refineries.
