Despite sitting on some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, Nigeria and many African countries still spend more than $120 billion annually importing refined petroleum products and hydrocarbon-related services, Heineken Lokpobiri, Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), has said.
Lokpobiri disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES), describing the massive import bill as not only a financial drain but a missed opportunity for economic transformation.
According to him, Africa’s continued dependence on fuel imports reflects a failure to retain value within the continent through local refining, infrastructure development, and industrial participation. “Africa currently spends over $120 billion annually on hydrocarbons alone. This staggering capital outflow represents not just a financial cost, but a lost opportunity for economic transformation,” Lokpobiri said.
He noted that retaining even a portion of this spending within Africa would have a transformative impact, creating fiscal space for investments in healthcare, education, infrastructure, security and technology.
The minister urged African governments and stakeholders to support the African Energy Bank (AEB), which will be headquartered in Nigeria, stressing that solving Africa’s energy challenge must be driven from within the continent. “If we do not mobilise the appropriate resources to solve our energy problems in Africa, our misery will increase as our population grows. The responsibility is ours and ours alone,” he said.
Lokpobiri added that while Nigeria supports global energy transition efforts, oil and gas will remain central to the country’s energy strategy. “No country in the world is abandoning oil and gas, and Nigeria will not either. Global discussions have shifted from energy transition to energy mix, with fossil fuels remaining dominant in the foreseeable future,” he stated, citing recent outlooks from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC.
He emphasised that governments must address the energy trilemma of availability, accessibility and affordability across all energy sources.
Also speaking at the summit, Farid Ghezali, Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), said Africa’s challenge is not resource availability but the inability to convert those resources into real economic value for its people.
He lamented that Africa exports about 70 per cent of its crude oil and 45 per cent of its natural gas, resulting in an estimated $15 billion annual loss in potential value addition, particularly in the midstream and downstream sectors.
Ghezali identified financing as the biggest obstacle to Africa’s energy development, noting that borrowing costs in Africa range between 15–20 per cent, compared to 4–6 per cent in Asia. “This disparity is unacceptable and has stalled more than 150 critical projects, including refineries, pipelines like the AKK gas pipeline, and other gas infrastructure,” he said.
He also criticised the fragmentation of Africa’s energy financing ecosystem, pointing out that the continent’s 18 national oil companies operate largely in isolation, limiting regional cooperation and access to large-scale capital.
To address these challenges, Ghezali said APPO is advancing the African Energy Bank, expected to launch in the first half of 2026. “The bank is more than a financial institution. It is a pan-African platform for equipment exchange, energy services, and innovative financing,” he said.
According to him, the AEB is designed to unlock $200 billion in funding for Africa’s midstream and downstream energy projects by 2030, reinforcing the need for the continent to produce what it consumes—and consume what it produces.
