Davos: Nigeria’s Energy Future Lies In Patient Capital, Community Buy-In Says Okunbo

The Executive Director of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), Dr. Osahon Okunbo, has said the gradual withdrawal of global financial institutions from Africa’s oil and gas sector offers a significant opportunity for local capital and indigenous expertise to drive the continent’s energy transition.

Okunbo spoke at a panel session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, themed “Powering Africa’s Next Growth Cycle: Gas, Renewables, Capital & Entrepreneurs in a Pragmatic Energy Transition Concept.”

He described the strong Nigerian presence at the forum as encouraging, noting that while global financiers are pivoting to renewables, capital remains available within Africa.

“There is capital available in Africa and in Nigeria for these projects,” he said, citing investments in the Ajaokuta, Kaduna, Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, which he described as critical to boosting domestic gas supply and industrialisation in Northern Nigeria.

Addressing investors’ concerns, Okunbo said security and political risks are often overstated, pointing to the successful delivery of over 600 kilometres of pipeline infrastructure across hundreds of communities.

“If security was truly the challenge it is perceived to be, these projects would not have been delivered,” he said, attributing recent successes to improved collaboration with security agencies and host communities.

He also noted that recent economic reforms, including fuel subsidy removal and exchange-rate unification, have improved investor confidence.

“Nigeria is more stable than it has been in the past and is open for business,” he said.

He however warned that maintenance culture, reinvestment and community engagement remain underestimated.

Citing the Trans-Niger Pipeline, built in the 1970s, he said years of underinvestment weakened critical assets, adding that active community involvement helped improve pipeline availability from about 3 per cent to 98 per cent following the transition from SPDC to Renaissance Energy.

Summing up, he identified patient capital, strong indigenous partnerships and supportive regulatory frameworks as critical to Africa’s energy future, expressing optimism that ongoing power-sector reforms would unlock increased private investment.