Nigeria gas minister calls for move to energy prosperity
Nigeria’s gas minister has called for shifting from energy poverty to prosperity, controversially positioning natural gas as the fastest path to industrial growth and inclusive economic development.
(Abuja, Nigeria) — The Nigerian gas minister Ekperikpe Ekpo has said that gas is Nigeria’s most immediate, scalable, and inclusive pathway to economic diversification, industrial growth, and shared prosperity.
He said this on Monday during the opening session of the 9th Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES 2026) in Abuja, under the theme “Energy for Peace and Prosperity: Securing Our Shared Future.”
The minister, represented by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Oyekunle Patience, said the NIES 2026 overarching theme resonates strongly with the gas sector, as natural gas is not only critical to energy security and represents a pragmatic transition to lower-carbon systems, but is also fundamentally the backbone of industrialisation and economic resilience.
However critics of gas as a transition fuel would argue that it will lock countries in Africa into outdated infrastructure, create economic risk through stranded assets, and delay the adoption of cheaper, cleaner renewable energy.
According to the Nigerian government’s updated short-term fossil fuel production targets, the country aims to double oil output over the next five years by producing three million barrels per day by 2030. The country also aims to increase gas production by 75% from 2024 levels by 2030.
However, Sky’s Limit Africa report Oil Change International argues that new oil, gas, and coal in Africa do not align with paris agreement of 1.5°C climate goal that most African countries signed up to. The report noted that $230 billion in planned investment through 2030 (and $1.4 trillion by 2050) risked becoming stranded assets, and advised an equitable phase-out of fossil fuels and a just transition to renewable energy.
The minister said that “for Africa, and particularly for Nigeria, gas represents our most immediate, scalable and inclusive pathway to economic diversification, industrial growth, and shared prosperity.”
Nonetheless “unlocking this potential requires more than abundant reserves, infrastructure development, or policy declarations. It requires a deliberate and strategic shift in how we conceive, design, and implement local content across the gas value chain,” he added.
The minister called for the gas industry to develop robust indigenous capacity across engineering and project execution, gas processing, pipeline construction, operations and maintenance, fabrication, LNG and FLNG services, gas-based manufacturing, and downstream utilisation.
He further emphasised that for Nigeria, gas remains the cornerstone of its energy transition plan and broader industrial agenda.
“From power generation and clean cooking, to fertilisers, petrochemicals, methanol, and compressed natural gas for transportation, the gas value chain offers unparalleled opportunities for job creation, industrial clustering, and regional integration. These opportunities, however, can only be sustained if local companies possess the requisite skills, technology, financing, and governance standards to compete at scale,” he said.
Indigenous companies
Ekpo noted that the government must continue to provide clear, stable, and coordinated policy signals that reward capability development and long-term investment.
“Industry operators must embed local capacity development into project design, not as an afterthought, but as a core value driver. Financial institutions must innovate to de-risk gas projects for indigenous firms. And our training and research institutions must align skills development with the technical, digital, and operational demands of a modern gas industry.”
“If we get this right, local content becomes a catalyst for the emergence of African industrial powerhouses — companies capable of serving domestic gas markets, competing effectively in regional projects, and exporting services, skills, and expertise beyond the continent. This is how gas becomes not only a transition fuel, but a true transformation fuel,” he added.
Johannes Lehne, Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy, also noted that the energy needs of the world cannot only be satisfied by renewable energies, but also by oil, and especially gas, being a bridging technology for a long time to come.
He noted that this poses the question of what can be done to help Africa industrialise, fulfil energy needs, and achieve energy integration.
As regards financing and technology in Europe, he urged the continent to expand into Europe considering its big intercontinental gas pipelines such as the Nigeria-Morocco Gas pipeline that has the objective to connect Africa to Europe.
He said: “How can we share technology so that you can build intercontinental gas delivery pipelines, but also fulfil your own energy needs, because big markets like Nigeria need their own industrialisation, also, not only to bring Nigeria forward, but also to be interesting markets for us, and therefore, actually, we are looking forward to a very interesting discussion, in the framework of the International finance institutions, in the framework of the new creative energy Bank and other financing frameworks, how we can bring money and technology to Nigeria.”
(Writing by Samuel Ajala; editing by Sophie Davies)