Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Sector Set to Drive Africa’s Energy Future via AfCFTA – NCDMB Executive Secretary

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has called for unified collaboration among industry stakeholders to fully harness Nigeria’s abundant energy resources and accelerate economic growth across the continent.

Delivering a keynote address (represented by Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, Director of Corporate Services at NCDMB) at the 2026 AfCFTA Energy Summit—co-hosted by NCDMB, PETAN, and Legal Concierge under the theme “Unlocking Africa’s Energy Future through AfCFTA”—Ogbe emphasized Nigeria’s strategic position in leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to advance the oil and gas sector.

He highlighted Nigeria’s vast reserves of oil, gas, and renewable energy sources, underscoring that strategic partnerships are essential to ensure energy security, strengthen local content initiatives, and foster industrialization. NCDMB remains dedicated to sector growth through targeted programs in capacity building, technology transfer, and infrastructure enhancement.

Ogbe urged stakeholders to seize emerging opportunities while addressing key challenges, such as meeting AfCFTA compliance standards for exporters and establishing harmonized regulations and quality benchmarks.

The summit convened regulators, project developers, financial institutions, academia, and industry leaders to refine AfCFTA strategies for Nigeria’s oil and gas ecosystem. Discussions centered on Nigeria’s established framework for AfCFTA domestication—focusing on opportunity identification, skills development, and export capacity—along with the country’s competitive advantages in oilfield services, refining, and logistics.

Participants explored practical avenues for market access, including Nigerian products entering markets like Angola and positioning facilities such as Ghana’s Tema shipyard as regional hubs for vessel construction and maintenance. Emphasis was placed on enhanced collaboration, technological advancement, and metrics to assess AfCFTA’s impact on Africa’s trade balance.

The event reinforced NCDMB’s pivotal role in positioning Nigeria—and by extension Africa—toward energy self-sufficiency, sustainable development, and inclusive prosperity under the AfCFTA framework.