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Nigeria tops sub-Saharan Africa in upstream investment with $8bn projects - DAILY TRUST
By Abdullateef Aliyu, Lagos
Despite an 18% decline in upstream spending across Sub-Saharan Africa in 2025, Nigeria retained its position as the region’s leading destination for upstream capital, attracting $5.3 billion in investment, according to Wood Mackenzie.
Only two Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) were recorded across Sub-Saharan Africa in 2025, with Nigeria securing one of them.
The Shell–Sunlink HI Field (OML 144), a shallow-water non-associated gas project, reached FID following the introduction of Nigeria’s Non-Associated Gas (NAG) incentives in 2024, which restored commercial viability and unlocked critical gas feedstock for the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) plant.
The milestone marks a significant turnaround for Nigeria, according to Olu A. Verheijen, Special Adviser on Energy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Between 2015 and 2023, the country captured just 4% of Africa’s sanctioned FIDs—about $5 billion across six of 44 projects.
Over the last two years, however, Nigeria has secured 38% of the continent’s sanctioned FIDs, equivalent to $8 billion across five of eight projects.
Government officials attribute the resurgence to decisive policy and fiscal reforms implemented over the past 24 months.
Nigeria now offers among the most competitive deep-water fiscal terms globally and the most attractive gas terms in Africa, improving project economics and investor confidence.
Looking ahead to 2026, the presidential aide said further FIDs are expected as targeted incentives, regulatory clarity, and a stable, investor-focused policy framework continue to support project sanctioning across the oil and gas value chain.
Daily Trust reports that the implementation of Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is on course in Nigeria with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) promising to be more aggressive in revenue generation and increasing oil production.
Chief Executive of NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, had during a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos on Wednesday that the commission had recorded significant progress over the last few years, largely due to the implementation of the PIA.
