Nigeria Requires $100 Billion Decade-Long Investment to End Power Crisis – Tony Attah
Tony Attah, Managing Director and CEO of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, has called for sustained annual investments of at least $10 billion over the next ten years to resolve Nigeria’s chronic electricity deficit and drive sustainable economic growth.
Delivering the keynote address at the University of Ibadan Alumni Association Worldwide Annual Lecture & Homecoming on Friday, Attah described the country’s power shortage as a “developmental emergency” that is undermining industrial competitiveness, human capital development, and overall national progress.
Key highlights from the lecture:
– Nigeria needs a minimum installed capacity of 200,000 MW to support its developmental aspirations, compared with the current grid supply of under 5,000 MW for a population exceeding 200 million.
– Over 85 million Nigerians remain without electricity access, while unreliable supply costs the economy an estimated $29 billion annually in lost output.
– Attah highlighted the severe human impact, including maternal and child health risks from deliveries under torchlight and more than 100,000 annual deaths linked to indoor air pollution from traditional fuels.
Despite possessing 37 billion barrels of oil reserves, 210 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and world-class solar potential, Nigeria paradoxically remains “energy poor,” he noted.
**Natural Gas as Immediate Bridge and Long-Term Destination Fuel**
Attah emphasised natural gas as Nigeria’s most viable near- to medium-term solution for rapid industrialisation and energy security. He advocated doubling domestic gas production from the current ~8 billion standard cubic feet per day (scf/d) to 14 billion scf/d, a move that could cut manufacturing energy costs by up to 50 % and significantly boost forex earnings and employment.
Praising recent policy actions by the Tinubu administration—including accelerated divestment approvals and new upstream incentives—Attah cited Qatar’s gas-led transformation (GDP per capita >$70,000 and a $450 billion sovereign wealth fund) as a replicable model for Nigeria.
**Renaissance Africa Energy’s Domestic Gas Push**
Attah outlined his company’s ambition to become a leading indigenous gas supplier, with flagship projects such as Opukushi and Assa North–Ohaji South targeted to deliver 1 billion scf/d by 2030—sufficient to power more than 5 million homes daily. The company is also prioritising flare elimination, full value-chain investment, and community-focused renewable integration.
**Call to Academia and Multi-Stakeholder Action**
Addressing the University of Ibadan community, Attah urged Nigerian universities to become innovation hubs for home-grown energy solutions through expanded engineering research, student entrepreneurship programmes, and industry partnerships.
He concluded with a rallying call for policy coherence, regulatory certainty, private-sector collaboration, and community-driven initiatives to transform energy from a bottleneck into a catalyst for Nigeria’s prosperity.
“Energy is the oxygen of modern life. Let us build a Nigeria where reliable, affordable energy is no longer an aspiration but a reality,” Attah declared.
