By Adeola Badru

Nigeria has intensified efforts to accelerate cross-border gas investments and regional energy integration, as ministers, financiers and industry leaders across Africa rallied around coordinated strategies to unlock the continent’s vast gas potential.

This formed the focus of discussions at a one-day Ministerial Roundtable on Cooperation in Advancing Gas Development with Regional Impact Across Africa, co-hosted by Nigeria’s Decade of Gas programme and the World Bank in Abuja.

According to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, participants stressed that the key constraint to Africa’s energy future is not resource availability but the lack of coordinated execution.

The roundtable brought together senior government officials, national energy companies and development partners from across the region, including delegations from Senegal, Togo and Benin.

Discussions reflected a growing shift from fragmented national gas strategies to a commercially aligned regional system anchored on shared infrastructure, harmonised regulations and aggregated demand.

The statement noted that Nigeria’s role as host underscores its central position in Africa’s gas transition, given its over 210 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves.

It added that the country’s Decade of Gas initiative is being positioned as both a domestic scale-up programme and a regional coordination platform, targeting production of over 12 billion cubic feet per day by 2030, alongside increased domestic utilisation and industrial application.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, highlighted the urgency of collective action.

“Africa’s energy future will not be determined by the abundance of our resources, but by our ability to act together. The challenge before us is coordination, infrastructure and collective execution,” he said.

Also speaking, Togo’s Minister of Mines and Energy Resources, Robert Koffi Messan Eklo, emphasised the critical role of energy in industrialisation, pledging deeper collaboration with Nigeria.

“There is no industrialisation without energy availability and affordability. Togo is ready to strengthen collaboration with Nigeria under the Decade of Gas initiative and expand its role in regional infrastructure, including the Africa Atlantic Gas Pipeline,” he said.

Key discussions at the meeting centred on translating political alignment into bankable projects, with emphasis on cross-border pipelines, liquefied natural gas infrastructure and gas-to-power development.

The World Bank reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the sector through policy advisory, technical assistance and risk mitigation instruments aimed at attracting private investment and improving project viability.

The talks come amid shifting supply dynamics in West Africa, including Senegal’s emergence as a gas exporter through the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project, as well as growing participation from Togo and Benin.

Stakeholders stressed the need to integrate these developments into a unified regional system capable of supporting industrial growth, power generation and intra-African trade.

The meeting also highlighted the evolution of Nigeria’s Decade of Gas initiative into a broader platform for aligning national ambitions with regional execution.

Coordinating Director of the programme, Ed Ubong, outlined key implementation priorities and production targets, noting increasing alignment among governments, financiers and industry stakeholders.

“These targets are ambitious, but they are not being pursued in isolation,” he said.

Participants agreed to shift focus toward implementation, with plans to establish working groups, develop project pipelines and design financing frameworks to translate commitments into tangible investments.

They, however, noted that achieving meaningful impact would depend on sustained integration and coordinated delivery, particularly as Africa holds more than 600 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves while over 600 million people still lack access to electricity.