Economist: World Bank Fuel Importation Advice Ill-timed
As the recent Nigeria Development Update (NDU) report by the World Bank continues to raise dust, energy economist, Professor Ken Ife, has criticised the report, which urged Nigeria to deepen fuel importation and fully liberalise its downstream petroleum sector.
Ife described the advice as “ill-timed, backward and inconsistent with Nigeria’s own laws.”
Speaking in an interview on Nigeria’s economic outlook, Ife argued that while parts of the World Bank’s latest Nigeria Development Update were analytically sound, its position on fuel importation undermines the country’s push for energy independence and local refining capacity.
“You cannot come to a country that is struggling and has suddenly developed a vision of becoming economically independent, and then advise it to reverse course and start importing again,” he said.
According to him, such recommendations run contrary to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which prioritises domestic crude supply for local refiners under the Domestic Crude Obligation framework.
“The law is very clear; priority must be given to local refining capacity. Advising Nigeria to abandon that and return to import dependence is not only against government policy but against the PIA law itself,” Ife stressed.
He warned that increased importation would expose Nigeria to global supply shocks, drain foreign exchange reserves and weaken ongoing investments in domestic refining, particularly at a time when private sector players are scaling up capacity.
“We are building refining capacity that will exceed local demand and position Nigeria as an energy exporter. How can anyone recommend that we abandon this and return to reckless importation?” he queried.
The economist further described the recommendation as lacking empirical grounding.
“This conclusion was parachuted into an otherwise strong report. There is no evidence to support telling Nigeria to depend on imports when major refining countries are restricting exports,” he said.
