Nigeria’s ambitious target of providing at least 20 hours of electricity daily by 2027 hinges on a significant boost in investments, especially in the oil and gas sectors.

Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser on Energy to President Bola Tinubu, recently underscored this at the Africa Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa.

In a statement released by Abiodun Oladunjoye, the State House Director of Information and Publicity, Verheijen detailed the federal government’s plans to revitalize Nigeria’s power sector and improve electricity access for Nigerians.

Currently, Nigeria’s power grid is plagued by challenges, with its most recent collapse marking the 10th outage since the start of 2024.

The government has attributed these frequent failures to outdated infrastructure, a lack of regular maintenance, and chronic underinvestment.

Despite Nigeria’s impressive installed capacity of about 12,500 megawatts, only a fraction of this power is regularly generated, leaving vast areas of the country without stable electricity.

Verheijen noted that Nigeria is pushing to provide consistent power to urban and industrial areas as a cornerstone of economic development.

The government has a range of initiatives aimed at addressing these challenges.

For example, revenue collection reforms are underway to increase accountability, along with the deployment of seven million smart meters to minimize energy losses.

Additionally, there are plans to expand off-grid solutions to ensure remote communities have access to electricity, which will help bridge the gap in underserved regions.

Verheijen emphasized that recent macroeconomic reforms, including the removal of the petrol subsidy and foreign exchange liberalization, signal Nigeria’s readiness for a new era of growth.

She urged foreign investors to see these changes as an open invitation to partner with Nigeria, mentioning that the Tinubu administration is actively pursuing policies to attract investment.

As part of the broader Presidential Gas for Growth Initiative, the government is focusing on midstream and downstream investments, including in compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and electric vehicles.

The administration aims to reduce dependency on petrol and diesel, particularly in transport, decentralized power generation, and cooking, while fostering demand for cleaner alternatives like electric vehicles.

While discussing Nigeria’s oil and gas potential, Verheijen compared the country’s performance to that of Brazil, which has managed to produce 131 percent more oil than Nigeria, despite having only 30 percent of its oil reserves.

This gap, she argued, is largely due to underinvestment.

She lamented the fact that since 2016, Nigeria has attracted only 4 percent of Africa’s oil and gas investments, whereas other, less resource-rich African nations have managed to capture a larger share of investor interest.

To reverse this trend, the Tinubu administration is implementing reforms aimed at making Nigeria’s oil and gas sector more competitive.

For the first time since the beginning of deepwater exploration in 1991, Nigeria is introducing a specific fiscal framework for deepwater gas projects, as well as incentives to stimulate investment in non-associated gas production.

Verheijen noted that these new policies are designed to increase investor confidence and unlock Nigeria’s potential, enabling international oil companies to bring more capital to Nigeria’s shores.